On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Devotion based on Matthew 2:11

Have you ever received one of those gifts? The kind of gift that made you say, “Wow, you shouldn’t have.” (And not the way you say it to the relative who gave you that sweater that you wouldn’t be caught dead in.)

Have you ever received one of those gifts that was so generous that you truly didn’t expect it and had no idea how to respond? If selfish thoughts don’t take over first, don’t such gifts inspire you to look for ways to give something back to the person who gave it to you or to pay their generosity forward to others?

We know little about the men who came to Bethlehem looking for the infant Jesus. We don’t even know how many there were. But we do know this: their gifts were generous gifts fit for a king. Gold is a valuable gift in every era. Frankincense was burned in ritual worship and may have had medicinal uses as well. Myrrh was used to anoint kings and priests or wrapped with bodies in ancient burial customs.

Their gifts showed that they knew that Jesus was no ordinary baby. These men traveled great distances and brought generous gifts. Why? Because they recognized that the baby was God’s gift to them—a gift more precious and valuable than any other gift ever given or received.

Jesus was born to keep ancient promises and bring eternal treasures. He came to bring the abundant love and mercy of God as he conquered spiritual foes and set sinners free from the torture of hell. He came to earth to open heaven, an eternal paradise where pain, sorrow, and death are gone forever.

Jesus is God’s gift to you and me, too. How will we respond to this generous gift? We live our lives to serve him. We joyfully and generously serve those God brings into our lives. We give to support churches that share the gift of Jesus with our communities and the world. We give ourselves as gifts to him.

Prayer: