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Have you made up your list of people to get gifts for? Have you remembered the most important One on that list? Have you included Jesus? Remember, if it weren’t for Jesus, we wouldn’t be celebrating His birthday! After leaving Heaven to live and die on this Earth, shouldn’t we be grateful enough to give Him something in return? Especially during the time when Christians everywhere celebrate His birth?
Although most people likely have no problem with this concept, the question remains: What can we give to the God of the universe?
On Saturday, we saw that the most important gift we can give to Jesus is to surrender ourselves 100% to Him and accept His gift of Salvation. After that, however, what do we possibly have that Jesus would want?
Jesus received actual gifts for His birthday: “And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Could the Magi of old give us some clue as to what we can give back to Jesus this Christmas?
Gold: It is said that Jesus received the gift of gold in order to acknowledge His right to rule as King of the Universe. Therefore, our gift of “gold” to Jesus is to allow Him to be the King of our hearts! This means total surrender to Him. It means accepting His will and letting Him lead. It means seeking His will above our own and exchanging our plans for His.
I don’t know about you, but acknowledging that Jesus is the rightful King of my life is a bit easier than letting Him take His rightful place! What if I, this Christmas, resolve to let Him be the King of my life? What if I resolve to completely surrender my life and plans to Him? After all Paul tells us, “As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.” (Ephesians 6:6b NLT)
Frankincense: Because frankincense was used in the temple to anoint the priests and as part of the thanksgiving offerings, when the wise men presented this gift to Jesus, they were pointing to the fact that Christ is our High Priest.
The Bible outlines several different roles for priests. First of all, he was to teach the law (See Deuteronomy 33:10). Secondly, he served to cleanse the temple (See 2 Chronicles 29:16). Another priestly function was to purify the unclean (See Numbers 19, etc.). An additional task of the Levitical priests was to forgive sins (See Leviticus 5:4-6). Finally, a priest prayed for the people (See 2 Chronicles 30:27). A brief read of the gospels shows that Jesus did all of these things, and the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is our perfect High Priest: “He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.” (Hebrews 7:26 NLT)
How, then, can we give Jesus a gift of “frankincense” this Christmas? By admitting that our lives are impure. By striving to follow in His footsteps: “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps…” (1 Peter 2:21 NKJV). By striving to continually offer our lives as living sacrifices to Him: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1 NKJC)
Myrrh: Meanwhile, myrrh was used for embalming. Thus, the Wiseman’s gift of myrrh pointed to Jesus’ eventual death on the cross, that same death that served to save us all from our sins. It also symbolizes that we must die to self (See Galatians 2:20) and live for Him!
How can we offer Jesus a gift of “myrrh” this Christmas? By cultivating a longing in our hearts to die to self and surrender to Him.
As we consider these three gifts given to Jesus by the Magi of old, doesn’t it strike you that they all have one thing in common? Complete and total surrender! We surrender to Christ as our King; we surrender to Him as as our Priest, the one who forgives our sins and presents us holy before God; and we surrender to Him in our desire to be like Him.
What about it? Can we each resolve to give Jesus the gifts of “gold”, “frankincense” and “myrrh” this Christmas by surrendering all aspects of our lives?
Think about it!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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