“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” – Matthew 2:10-11 (NKJV)
The wise men traveled a great distance to worship the newborn King. When they finally found Him, they worshiped Him and gave Him three gifts: “gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
What gifts will you give to Jesus this Christmas? After all, it is His birthday. You might not know what to give Him. I mean, what do you give to the One who has everything? Well, almost everything. Because perhaps He doesn’t have you. Have you given Jesus you? Have you given Him everything you are and everything you have?
Let’s consider the three gifts the wise men gave Jesus to inspire our own giving this Christmas:
1. Gold – A gift fit for a King. Have you surrendered control of your life to King Jesus? Have you confessed Him as Lord? That’s the first and most important gift you can give HIm. Will you give Him your life? And having given Him your life, will you give Jesus first place in your Christmas celebrations this year?
2. Frankincense – A gift fit for a Priest. Frankincense was a main ingredient in the incense the Jewish priests burned in the Temple. It represented the prayers of the people to God. A priest is a mediator, one who stands between God and man, acting as a go-between. Yet, Jesus is the only perfect priest. He is the Great High Priest, the only One who can reconcile us to God. As Paul wrote Timothy, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
Who are you praying for this Christmas? To give Jesus the gift of frankincense is to give Him your prayers. Who is far from God that you would pray the Lord would bring them near? Will you pray for family members, for neighbors, and friends to come to Jesus? Will you pray for the unreached peoples in the world to come to Jesus? (Follow this link for an up-to-date list of unreached people groups: https://joshuaproject.net).
3. Myrrh – A gift fit for a Savior. Myrrh was mixed in the wine offered to Jesus on the cross. It was one of the spices used on His body when they laid Him in the tomb. When you give Jesus the gift of myrrh, you remember His sacrifice. You remember that He died to save you from your sins. To give Jesus the gift of myrrh is to give Him your sacrificial offering. What would Jesus have you sacrifice for? Wouldn’t He want you to sacrifice in order to reach the nations? His Great Commission was that we “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19).
One way you can “go” to the nations this Christmas is to give a sacrificial offering to help support those who are already going to the nations. You can partner with us by giving your most sacrificial offering to the “Christmas Missions Offering” this Sunday. The entire offering will be used in international missions work, a large portion of which will be sent to the International Missions Board. Simply make your check out to the church and put “Christmas Missions Offering” on your giving envelope. And we’ll make sure it all goes to our international partners.
Now you have three gift ideas for Jesus’ birthday: 1) Make Jesus your king, 2) pray for people far from God, 3) give your most generous offering for international missions.
After all, Christmas is supposed to be about Christ. It is His birthday we celebrate.