The Ultimate Journey (Part Two)

By Ilcias Vargas, Jr.

"And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh" (Matthew 2:11).

After much time spent in travel, the Magi from the East finally arrived at Bethlehem. They eventually found the place where Jesus’ family was staying. What a surprise it must have been for Mary (and maybe Joseph) to see a caravan of servants and pack animals, led by a few richly clothed men, right outside her front door! How stranger still it must have been that these rich men entered the “house” and reverently worshiped the young Child. Perhaps the words of the angel Gabriel came back to mind: “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest…” (Luke 1:32). Next, the Magi presented selected treasures to give as gifts to the infant Jesus: gold, a sign of royalty; frankincense, a sign of priesthood; and myrrh, an embalming fragrance. God had guided them, and they had come to worship the Messiah.

We can learn from the worship of the Magi. In worshiping, the Magi gave of their best. We can do the same by giving of our time, our financial resources, and our abilities to God. In fact, these things belong to God in the first place (see Psalm 24:1), and so we are simply returning these things in acknowledgement of His authority. He is our God; He is our Creator. He deserves our best. Often there are two spaces we don’t like to let God into: our calendars and our pocketbooks. But when we recognize His ownership of all, when we realize that He is worthy of our all, our natural response is to return to Him that which is rightfully His.

In worshiping Jesus, the Magi acknowledged who He was. They gave Him gold, as a sign of His kingly authority; we should likewise acknowledge Him as king of our lives. The Magi gave Him frankincense, as a sign of His priestly work; as our High Priest, He is our Provider and Friend (see Hebrews 4:14-16). Also, the Magi gave Him myrrh, a sign that one day, He — God — would die for the sins of mankind; He is our Savior.

In worship, we give, returning to God that which is rightfully His. In worship, we acknowledge who God is. Let’s follow the example of the wise men this holiday season and give God the worship that is due Him.