What gift will you bring?
When the magi arrived at the manger, they were not empty handed. They came bearing gifts. For them, they could not imagine traveling for many miles over the course of weeks only to appear before the King with nothing. They may not have been Jewish, but they understood the significance of this occurrence. They would be standing before royalty. They would encounter fulfilled prophecy. This would be a once in eternity opportunity.
So they appeared before Jesus offering gifts of great value. They brought items that were hard to come by – and most likely – items Mary and Joseph had never held. They wanted to offer Jesus extravagance – articles fitting for a King.
This Christmas, what gift will you bring to the manger? What can you possibly offer to the Savior of the world? Is there anything of value you can give?
The wonder of Christmas does not emanate from being able to give gifts to impress Jesus. The wonder of Christmas is that what matters most to him is that we offer ourselves – with no strings or expectations of return.
What gift will you bring?
around a fire in the chimnea at Christmas. But I also have to say, having a cold snap is refreshing as well. My perspective changes a bit when I can literally see the breath escaping from my mouth. It reminds me how precious the act of breathing is even though we take it for granted daily. When it is cold outside, I am reminded of the fragility of our lives.
Anticipation is a funny thing. I remember as a child, as Christmas drew closer, I would rush into our living room as soon as I got home from school to see if there were any new packages under our tree. My brother and I would pull all the packages out and separate them so we could get an accurate count. It’s not like there were so many that they couldn’t be counted but we both wanted to know if even one more had been added.
In Matthew 1 we find that one of the names of Jesus is Immanuel – which means God with us. GOD WITH US!
ell, that took me down a 30 minute sidetrack to get it going again. And in the midst of feeling some wrinkles developing on my brow, I received an email that caused some frustration and I had to turn some attention to it.
This would not have been a great assignment for an angel except for one thing – the message they were sent to deliver. Gabriel and others were tasked with making their way to earth to let people know the very son of the one, true God was to be born – the savior of the world was on his way!
We began an Advent emphasis this past Sunday we are calling The Journey To the Manger. As we approach the celebration of the Christmas Day event, we are taking a look each week at different people who made their own journeys to that stable. The shepherds, the wise men and even Mary and Joseph all made the trek to Bethlehem because of the same event – the birth of the King. All came from different directions and circumstances but their journeys all ended the same – in worship of Jesus.
Clay in the Hands 