DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- GIFTS OF WORSHIP

DAD-S RAMBLINGS –  GIFTS OF WORSHIP

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him' ….. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary, His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

The church is filled with people waiting for the annual Christmas pageant to begin.  The lights are dimmed, and slowly down the aisle come a man and a woman, the woman being obviously pregnant.  As they walk onto the platform, they approach a building and Joseph knocks on the door.  The person who answers the door slowly shakes his head "no."  The couple moves on to the next scene which is obviously a barn, with cut-out animals.  The lights dim again, and when they come back on, there is a baby lying in a manger.  

In the next scene, there are a group of boys dressed in bathrobes carrying shepherds' crooks.  They come and kneel before the manger.

The next scene involves three men, obviously kings with crowns on their heads.  They come to the manger and bow before it and lay their presents on the floor in front of the manger, while the parents of the new-born babe look on.

We have seen this drama enacted numerous times through the years, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus.  It always pulls at my heart-strings when I visualize these people and the babe in the manger.

The focus is the worship – particularly the wise men.  They clearly did not come to the stable on the night of the Nativity.  But they had come with their precious gifts a long distance seeking the new-born king to worship.

One evidence of the deity of Jesus is that people worshiped Him.  God is clear in His commandment that worship is reserved for Him and Him alone.  During Jesus' ministry, there were many people who came to worship Him, and in John's Revelation, Jesus is worshiped in Heaven.  

The word "worship" in the Greek text basically means to kiss.  This is not an emotional kiss, but more like a man bowing to kiss the hand of a maiden or bowing to kiss the ring of a pope.  It involves bowing in submission or respect.

Today, I bow my knee before the Lord Jesus as my Lord and my King.  And I present to Him my gift of worship. He is worthy of the thing most precious to me – my life.  

The Psalmist penned these words:  "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.  For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand" (Psalm 95:6).

Love, Dad