GIFTS THAT SPEAK
What’s the most meaningful gift someone has given you?
Most likely, it meant so much because that person knew you REALLY well.
That person knew your interests and values. Maybe even your quirks.
The gift was personal to YOU.
The gifts we receive say something about us.
The gifts we give say something about the people we give them to.
Although the Three Wise Men in Matthew 2 did not know Jesus personally, their gifts told volumes about their recipient. Somehow, they knew that Jesus was worthy of their worship. They knew that Jesus was royalty. For this reason, they selected gifts that were customarily given to kings.
James Montgomery Boice provides these helpful insights about the significance of the three gifts they presented Jesus:
“Gold is the metal of kings. When gold was presented to Jesus, it acknowledged His right to rule.”
“Incense…was used in the temple worship. It was mixed with the oil that was used to anoint the priests of Israel. In presenting this gift the wise men pointed to Christ as our great High Priest, the one whose whole life was acceptable and well pleasing to His Father.”
“Myrrh was used for embalming. It was a gift of faith. We do not know precisely what the wise men may have known or guessed about Christ’s ministry, but we do know that the Old Testament again and again foretold his suffering.”
Jesus received gifts that pointed directly to His prophesied role as Messiah. They whispered promises of all that He would do on our behalf – both in His earthly ministry, and echoing into eternity as our King of Kings, our Great High Priest, and our Risen Savior. They were gifts that spoke the Gospel.
THREE Applications
This Christmas, enjoy the sweetness of relationships that make each gift under the tree meaningful. Each one tells a story of personal bonds between family and friends.
Believer, take a moment to remember what God’s gift of salvation communicates about you. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The gift of eternal life means that you are deeply and dearly loved by the Living God. By a miracle of grace and mercy on the cross of Christ, you will spend forever enjoying His presence.
Finally, ponder what your gifts to God communicate. Each act of service, every loving deed, each display of compassion toward a hurting world, each financial offering, each lyric sung in worship, is a gift that powerfully declares something about God’s great worth.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1)
Your devotion to Christ is a gift that speaks powerfully about Him. What do we have, that we have not first received? We can give love offerings to God because He first loved us. He has absolutely filled our lives. And out of the overflow, we lift up our very lives – all we have to bring. He is worthy of it all.