Wise Men, Gift One
Matthew 2:11 (HCSB) Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The wise men. The great controversy of Christmas. Traditional nativity scenes and modern thinking puts them at the manger when Jesus is born. Others argue that the Bible indicates that Jesus was in a “house” when they came to visit and that Herod killed all the babies 2 years old and younger indicating that perhaps the magi had told the king how long they had been following the star. And what about this star… Here’s some interesting reading about one man’s thoughts on the star: Article: Bethlehem star: both natural & miraculous?
And were there three wise men? (that number comes from the number of gifts) And what is a wise man (or magi) anyway? (Probably an astronomer-studier of stars)Anyway - what we do know is that these guys from the east came and gave Jesus some gifts. this is really where the whole gift-giving at Christmas comes from.
For the next three devotions, I am going to look at the three gifts and perhaps we can see what we can give to Jesus this next year.
Gift #1: Gold
Gold. A gift for a King.
As Jesus is the King of kings, it seems fitting that he should get gold. Some speculate that Joseph used the gold to set up shop in Egypt. Who knows.
I think that we can be like the wise men and give our gold (money) to Jesus. We should be faithful to give a tithe (that’s a tenth) to our local church in order that the Word of God can be preached everywhere. We should also give more than what is required to assist in other areas as the Lord shows us. Give the gift of money to Jesus in 2008. Not because He needs your money, but because He is worthy of it.
Pray: Dear God, help us to be faithful in giving money to you. Amen.
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