A gift worth giving!

 “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”-Matthew 2:1-2

The Wisemen that travelled from the East were on a mission. A mission to worship. We are not certain how long or how far they travelled, some scholars believe they could have traveled 400-700 miles.  Depending on the conditions, that journey could have taken some 30-60 days to complete. However, regardless of how long it took them; they still came intending to worship! That commitment to worship is what carried them to the very feet of Jesus.

 When the Wisemen arrived, not only had they come intending to worship, they came prepared for worship; each one carrying a specific gift to offer the newborn king. None of them came empty handed. They prepared themselves to meet a King. Each of their gifts was unique, but valuable in it’s own right. 

" 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod."-Matthew 2:11-12 

I am reminded of the Christmas Song- “The Little Drummer Boy”. Although we don’t read of him in the Bible, we glean the sense of the story to be connected with that of the Wisemen. Take out the Rum-Pum-Pum-Pums and you get to the heart of the story: 

Come they told me

A new born king to see

Our finest gifts we bring

To lay before the king

So to honor him

When we come

Little baby

I am a poor boy too

I have no gift to bring

That's fit to give our king

Shall I play for you

on my drum

Mary nodded

The ox and lamb kept time

I played my drum for him

I played my best for him

Then he smiled at me

Me and my drum

The little drummer boy didn’t think he had a gift worth giving. All he had to give was his very best worship, but it made Jesus smile. You may feel like you are too poor to give Jesus anything of value: poor in talent, poor in skills, poor in resources, but none of us are poor in praise.  

“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”-Hebrews 13:15

 It wasn’t the value of the items brought that was impressive, it was the wisemen’s willingness to open up their treasure chests and give it all to Jesus that causes us to remember them today:

“They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”-Matthew 2:11

Gold, Frankincese, and Myrhh. You and I are the ones who are so fascinated by what was inside. We are the ones who have spent years studying and analyzing what was given. However, the gift was never what was inside. The gift was their willingness to open up and give Jesus their very best!  Are you willing to open up? Are you willing to give Jesus the very best of what’s inside of you? It’s time to open up your treasure chests!

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church