My favorite Christmas Song is “The Little Drummer Boy”. It’s been special to me ever since I was a young kid. Each Christmas I’d watch the 1968 TV show of the same name that featured the song. Even then I found the jerky, stop motion animation and story a bit weird and even a little scary. And it’s not a Christmas story that’s from scripture. It’s a story that’s been made up to go alongside the Biblical Christmas account. Despite this, I loved the song that came at the end of the show so much that I would watch right through to the finish to make sure I heard it. “The Little Drummer Boy”.
Only in recent years have I realized why this quaint little song goes so deep for me. Why I connect so profoundly. It’s my favorite Christmas song because it’s about an insecure musician. I can relate. That’s me!
I come face to face with God, just like the Little Drummer Boy. And, again, just like him, I feel like I have nothing of comparable value to offer. I see people all around me offering things to Him that are so much better than anything I have. More than that: What can I possibly give God when he has given me everything?! Yes, the song’s about an insecure musician, like me, but it’s actually about all of us insecure humans. Like me. Like you.
Wonderfully, graciously, lovingly, miraculously, it turns out that God just wants me. Not my performance. With all my imperfections, insecurities and the ways I don’t yet measure up, He just wants me! This is too good to be true. But it is. What a relief!
And as I give myself to Him, I find myself wanting to give the best of my talent and everything else that I am. I discover that all I have is His anyway, and I am merely a steward – a caretaker.
“I play my drum for Him, Pah-rup-a-pum-pum,”
“I play my best for Him, Pah-rup-a-pum-pum, Rup-a-pum-pum, Rup-a-pum-pum”
“Then, he smiled at me, Pah-rup-a-pum-pum,”
“Me and my drum.”
Chokes me up every time I sing it.
Here’s a newer version of the song for you to enjoy by a cappella group Pentatonix:
Noteworthy 