December 23, 2014 Advent Devotional - Gifts

 

Today's reading from the LEC Family Advent Devotional is Matthew 2:1-12 -- the story of the Magi.

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.

Today's devotional is about gifts.  We know the symbolism of the three gifts that the Kings brought --  gold, a symbol for kingship on earth; frankincense, a symbol for deity; and myrrh, a symbol for death.  While we tend to focus on these physical gifts that the Kings brought, the real gift that they brought was the personal worship that they gave to the baby Jesus - giving of themselves, their time, their treasure, and their honor.

Their is a story by Frederick Thury, "The Last Straw," that I have used for a Children's Choir Christmas Program.  I just love this story!  It's about an old camel named Hoshmakaka.  Because he was old and wise, he was picked to accompany the wise men to follow the star and find the baby Jesus.  All along the trip, people stopped Hoshmakaka and asked him to bring a gift for them to the baby.  They loaded their gifts on Hoshmakaka's back, and it became harder and harder for him to travel.  As they approached their final destination, a little boy stopped the camel.  He told him that he didn't have much to give him but that he did have a piece of straw.  He asked Hoshmakaka if he would give the baby the piece of straw to soften his bed.  Even though Hoshmakaka was tired and his back was aching, he agreed.  When they finally arrived at the place where the baby was born, he was so tired by the burden on his back that he fell to his knees in exhaustion.  The kings that were traveling with him saw that Hoshmakaka had fallen to his knees and said "if the wise, old Hoshmakaka kneels before the baby, then we too must kneel before him and worship him."  During the entire trip, Hoshmakaka had grumbled and felt terribly imposed upon that these people were asking him to deliver their gifts.  But when they arrived and he had fallen to his knees from the weight of his burden, he looked up and saw the smiling face of the baby Jesus.  At that moment, Hoshmakaka realized how important his journey had been.  Even though that final piece of straw that the little boy gave Hosmakaka was the straw "that broke the camel's back," Hosmakaka learned a valuable lesson about humility.

Today my daughter had the following conversation with my granddaughter:

My daughter: "St. Nicholas was the first Santa Claus."
My Granddaughter: "No, Jesus was."
My daughter: "You're right, he gives the best gifts."
My Granddaughter: "Yes, love."

During these last few days before Christmas, we often feel overwhelmed by what we have left to do.  Maybe you feel as far away from Christmas as those Magi had to travel to see the child.  As my granddaughter reminded us all, the important thing to remember is that we have already received the best gift -- and that gift is Jesus Christ and His love.  Just as the wise men fell to their knees and worshiped the child, may this be your prayer:  "I will answer God's call to fall on my knees in humility and seek His face in repentance so that He might forgive my sins."

Today's Advent Photo of the Day

#gifts #pictureadvent

This is a picture of a stained glass window at St. Nicholas' Cathedral in Galway, Ireland.  It depicts the wise men visiting the baby Jesus.