The Little Drummer Boy

Out of all the overplayed and most-common Christmas songs, I think “The Little Drummer Boy” has got to be the closest to the heart of the season. Consider the idea that a boy who seemingly has nothing gives what he can for the newborn king. He has no money, no riches or wealth, no ability to buy Jesus a gift, much less wrap it with shiny paper and a bow. Still, the boy cannot let Jesus’ birthday go unnoticed! He must give something back to the One has given him life! The boy re-gifts! OMG! (This means “Oh My Gosh” in non-heretic peer-to-peer texting of the contemporary teenager.) How could someone re-gift to Jesus. The most amazing thing is not that the boy re-gifts but that he re-gifts to the original giver. It’s kind of like if Gracy Lou Freebush bought you a snuggy and you decided that you would re-gift it the next year back to Gracy Lou Freebush. This is considered a huge faux pas (meaning a sort of social mistake in upper class non-teenage language).

So what can we do if God is the giver of all things? How do we give something back to Him without making the mistake of re-gifting? The truth is we can’t!

God gives all things, from a nice house to each breath of air. There is nothing we can give that He didn’t give us first. I always thought that the greatest gifts were things that you always dreamed of having, whether you expressed it or not. Socks were never things I dreamt of, though useful. The goofy sweater that Grandma knitted you was sweet and thoughtful but not dreamt about (unless it was a nightmare). So what does God dream about?

Scripture tells us that “we must die. But that is not what God desires” (2 Samuel 14:14). God desires for us to be in community with Him now and eternally. So what better gift to give our Lord than what He desires most? This is what the Drummer Boy gave. He gave of his own God-given talents in order that he might please his Lord and be in community with him. Now, while I don’t remember scripture talking about the three wise men traveling with a little drummer boy, I still feel that the song portrays what we are to give our Lord in celebration of His coming. God’s desire from us is to be in community with us, to devote ourselves and the gifts He has given us to Him. As you give to others this Christmas season know that the Lord says, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:40).