Owl City “Humbug” – The best gift I could give You is this heart inside of me 🎄🎁💖

It’s Chriiiiiiiistmaaaaaaas!!!!… Eve 😸 And I haven’t done one of these in a long time, so here’s another Gospel According to post, Christmas Edition. This year’s holiday special is none other but Adam Young, alias Owl City, serenading us with his angelically beautiful voice and skillful guitar riffs in “Humbug,” which is a lovely human love song that also applies to our devotion to Christ. Enjoy!

Fandom: “I’ll wrap myself in paper and sit under the treeeeee… cause the best gift I can give You is this heart inside of meeeeee!” *epic guitar riff* – Owl City, “Humbug”

Verses: Luke 10:38-42, Hosea 6:6, Micah 6:6-8

Nugget: Rather than all the things we try to offer Him, the thing Christ wants the most from us is our hearts.

The horizontal view: Christmas shopping pressure😵

No matter how many new genres and songs I discover, I always come back to Owl City, and Christmas music is no different. This year, I’m especially enjoying Owl City “Humbug” and “Peppermint Winter,” but he has several more to offer as well. You can find an exhaustive list of Owl City Christmas songs here 😊

“Humbug” encapsulates everything I love about Adam Young’s music: witty, light-hearted lyrics with a nice heartfelt bridge that melts my heart every. time., plus his distinct musical style and *glorious* vocals… and, in this song, he tells us the story of searching for the perfect Christmas present for a special lady (which I now think might be his mom tbh) and failing miserably. He describes the pressure of trying to find that one ideal gift, which gives the song a relatable feel, and then hits you with the “I don’t have a clue what to give you, so I’ll give you my heart” line that’s just so sweet and adorable I can’t even 😻🥺😭💖

So I think we can conclude that the Horizontal, or human-talking-to-human, interpretation of this song is that giving things to people is all well and good, but the thing we should really give to the people we love is our heart and our love.

The vertical view: presence over performance

I’ve felt this at times, and I’m sure you have too: more than any physical gift, sometimes the most valuable thing my parents, siblings, and friends can give me is their presence in my life. I value the car rides and the shopping trips and the afternoons spent watching YouTube together more than the Christmas presents that lose some of their glamour the moment I begin to wonder where in the world I’m going to keep it all.

This isn’t to say that presents aren’t a valuable and good thing to give and a good way of showing love. They just aren’t the most important thing.

So, if humans really are made to reflect the heart and character of God (and I believe that we are), then that means that God wants our presence and our hearts more than any service or worship or sacrificial gift that we could give to Him.

“I’m ready to wrap that perfect Christmas gift, but I haven’t found it yet/ Cause I don’t have a clue what to get you, so I’ll give you my heart…” – Owl City “Humbug”

“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42 ESV

I love how the ESV says “Martha was distracted with much serving.” It reminds me of the Christmas season, and how we always talk about how busy life is this time of year. The truth is, I’m busy full-time, year-round, 25-8, and while some of the things I do throughout the year are necessary or useful or valuable, spending quality time with my peoples and with my Lord will always be the most important. But do I treat it that way?

Furthermore, the stress of serving leads Martha to cry for help, asking “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” Definitely reminds me of Adam Young’s “How ’bout I jump out the window” line– similar energy here 😹

“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.“

Hosea 6:6 ESV

I’ll wrap myself in paper, and sit under the treeeeee…. cause the best gift I could give You is this heart inside of meeeeeeeeee!”

“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Micah 6:6-8 ESV

So maybe the solution to holiday burnout (and life burnout, if you’re a person of faith) is letting the projects fall away, walking out of the store emptyhanded, and giving God (and our peoples) our heart instead. Give Him the sadness and the joy and the dreams for next year and the worries that they won’t come true. Just sit in His presence and walk humbly with your God.

“The best gift I have to give… is my looooooove….”

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post about Owl City “Humbug.” Be sure to follow me here on WordPress and on instagram for a new fandom-meets-faith post every week. Hug your peoples for me!

Merry Christmas!