I always think the two pigeons brought by Joseph and Mary to the Temple was such a meagre offering with which to thank God for his great gift to the world.

We make think that Like Mary and Joseph we have little to offer God for all Jesus has done for us.

In the summer I read the biography of the great Quaker reformer, Elizabeth Fry.

Mrs Fry used to visit the ships that transported women convicts to Australia. In 1823 she pressed into the hands of Hester a pound of lump sugar and half a pound of tea. Except for Mrs Fry Hester hadn't a friend in the world. But Mrs Fry gave her hope as a result of which she started a new life in New South Wales.

In 1845 - 22 years later - she wrote to Mrs Fry telling her that she had been married 20 years - had plenty of pigs and fowls - bought her tea by the chest - and the patchwork quilt that covered her bed was made from the pieces of cloth given her by the Quaker ladies when she embarked.

She sent Mrs Fry a present; a calabash (the fruit of a tree, dried, cleaned and made into a bottle) which her biographer suggested was as eloquent and effective a tribute as the statue of her which now stands in the Old Bailey in London.

Why did Mrs Fry's biographer think that? The value of a gift is not so much in the 'what' or the 'how' as in the 'why'. If we give to God out of gratitude for the hope Jesus gives us and our new life in him - He will be glad.

But we do have something precious to give - one real treasure to bestow - something Christina Rossetti highlights in her simple but beautiful carol, 'In the bleak midwinter.'

Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would give a lamb;
If I were a wise man,
I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give him -
Give my heart.

It is not so easy to give your heart to Jesus Christ. We know it is very, very precious and so might not be willing to relinquish it. But the best way to keep it is in fact to give it.

In the words of Paul, lovely words that have an almost musical lilt: For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 2Tim1v12.