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Giving God The Right Present At Christmas

(Matt. 2:11) “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts;...” Christmas is all about the giving of gifts; God gave the world Jesus (Jn.3:16), and here we see the wise men giving gifts as well. I think that in  many ways, gifts are the real reason that the world enjoys Christmas time, but to those of us that understand God’s purpose in sending His Son Jesus, we love this season for a different reason. The Biblical account doesn’t say how many wise men came from the east seeking Jesus, but it does tell us that they gave three different types of gifts; 1) Gold. In Jesus’ day gold was given to honor new kings, and to increase their wealth. Gold also represents the very best that God had to give to us but also the very best man should give to God. 2) Frankincense was the incense burned in the temple of Solomon. It represented praise, prayer, worship, but also sacrifice. Jesus’ life was given to us as a sacrifice of praise and worship, as he offered himself up for the sins of men, but at the same time it was a “sweet smelling savour” of a surrender life to the will of God. 3) Myrrh, was a very costly perfume that was used to mask the smell of death in burial. From his birth, Jesus was anointed for the purpose of death. All three gifts represent the gift of Jesus at Christmas!

 

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