Written by Katherine Kennicott (with credits to Harry Simeone and Henry Onorati) in 1941, this little song is only 89 words long—when you take out the “pa rum pum pum pum.” This has never been one of my favorite Christmas songs, probably because of the aforementioned pa rum pum pum pums, but it is unavoidable this time of year. When you focus on the lyrics, however, you find a little story of a boy who wants to go and honor the newborn king even though he doesn’t have a gift fit for a king. What he does have is his drum and his ability to play it. So the boy resolves to play his best for him. The song is written in the first person perspective, so when you sing it, you are the drummer boy and that turns out to be very fitting because we are all the little drummer. God has given us all specific gifts, and this song challenges us to ask ourselves, are we playing our best for Him?

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” (Romans 12:6-8)

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.” (1 Peter 4:10-11)

Sometimes we may feel, like the little boy in the song, that we don’t have any gifts to bring that are fit for a king, but the Scriptures remind us that God can use everyone, from mighty kings to lowly shepherds. The very fact that Jesus, our Savior, the King of the world, was born in Bethlehem and that he later hailed from Nazareth was a stumbling block for belief in some.

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.” (Micah 5:2)

The Message paraphrases this verse calling Bethlehem “the runt of the litter.” When Nathanael heard that Jesus is the one the prophets wrote about and that he is from Nazareth, he exclaimed, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46a).

God is always using “the runt of the litter.” Paul had a thorn in his side, Moses had a speech impediment, Timothy was too young, Abraham was too old; when we get down to it, we’re all just a little drummer with no gift to bring that is fit for a king. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that our greatest deeds are like filthy rags because of our sin. What we do have are the gifts that God has already given us, our talents, skills, and dispositions. When we come with these gifts and a servant’s heart, we can learn to use the gifts God has given us and we can play our best for Him. For fifteen years, I used my gift of writing only for myself, but when I gave my life to Christ, He showed me how I could use this gift He’d given me to do work in advancing His kingdom. God has given us all particular gifts fit for Kingdom work and they may not be that hard to discern; it could be a talent you’ve had and used for many years, you’ve just never applied it to Kingdom work. Consider what those gifts are and how you can use them to advance the Kingdom. We all have gifts for doing certain things well. Are you playing your best for Him?

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed