"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." -Matthew 2:11 (NIV)

 

We start this week's blog with a simple question that we really want you to take the time to reflect on this holiday season. And that very important question is, "IS HE NOT WORTHY OF WORSHIP?" In the biblical passage above, we reflect on this very familiar account that many of us have either read for ourselves or watched the story acted out of the wise men's search of this child that had been BORN, KING of the Jews. They wanted to find the born king, Jesus, and worship him.

These wise men came from the east in search of the one in which it had been foretold would be a ruler from Bethlehem who would rule over Israel. And the quest of these wise men was accomplished when they found this sacred child with his mother Mary. And when they had found him not only did they bow and worship him, but the passage states that they "opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh". I ask you again, "IS HE NOT WORTHY OF WORSHIP?"

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These 'men' saw the value in this 'child' who had been born just as God had promised. These 'men' understood what this 'child' was worth. These men reverenced this 'child' who would do something that no man had ever done, and no man will ever be able to do. These 'men' WORSHIPPED this 'child' who CONQUERED the WORLD and now rests, rules, and resides over it orchestrating things with the infinite wisdom and power of his great and mighty hands.They WORSHIPPED this 'child' who would pay the penalty and price for all our sins therefore giving us freedom from the things that bind us and the principalities that try to enslave us. This 'child' broke the yoke of bondage from us by giving up his life so that we can receive the gift of salvation just as his Father had both promised and purposed.

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This 'child' was special and unlike any other child because while he was birth from Mary and was the Son of God, he too is OURS if we choose to accept him allowing His Spirit to dwell within us. This 'child' was special because he transcends the boundaries and classifications of race, color, gender, social status, academic level, tax brackets, and all other demographics allowing ALL OF US, to be his shall we so choose him! Although this 'child' was born King of the Jews, he is the Master of the Universe. He is KING TO ALL who choose to believe in him. There are no biases. We all have access to him, shall we choose him. Will you CHOOSE him?

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Right about now many of us are making our list and checking it twice. Many of us are checking shipping deadlines and trying to make sure that those packages to those who we love "oh so much" will get there on time because we don't want our loved ones to go without. Many of us are prepping for those Christmas Parties whether at work, school, church, or home. Many of us are decked out in our Santa Hats and Christmas Sweaters. We all are preparing for a very Merry Christmas, but have we taken the time to reverence, to worship, or to simply acknowledge the CHRIST who made this Christmas Season and makes every other season, one to be treasured? Have we taken the time to worship God for sending us this very rare treasure? It is so easy for us to get so caught up in the 'season' of things and go the entire holiday season without as much as a simple and heartfelt, "God, thank you for your Son." I ask you again, "IS HE NOT WORTHY OF WORSHIP?"

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It is usually around this time of the year that we give gifts to the people in our lives that we love and appreciate. This is the one holiday in which we have it in our hearts to do something or buy something special to show our love and appreciation for those we deem special, worthy, and deserving. It is also around this time of the year that many of us may find ourselves disheartened or maybe even disappointed because we did not make it on someone's gift list. It is usually around this time that many people feel "a certain kind of way" because the very people who they were there for, whom they supported throughout the year, who they bought a gift for, did not in return give them as much as a simple Christmas Card or note wishing them a happy holiday.

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There are many people who will find themselves "in their feelings" because they bought someone a nice expensive gift and in return got something that they don't think is valuable. And if we can just be completely real, let's go there and lay all our cards on the table. Many of you will find yourselves saying, "I spent all of that money and they got me a gift that looks like it came out of the dollar store." Oh, let's not pretend we have not all had those gift exchange experiences.

 

Now there is nothing wrong with gifts from the dollar store. You just have to know what to buy and how to present it. This is not knocking dollar store gifts because there are some people who won't be able to buy expensive gifts and if that's all they can afford, then we must be grateful for the thought. However, the other side to that is that there are people who want nice gifts but will absolutely buy the cheapest thing that they can find because they don't want to spend their money on someone else although they want something good in return. We usually know the people in our lives well enough to know if the dollar store is all they could afford or if they were just being, how do you say it, "CHEAP!"

 

By the way, would you rather receive a less expensive gift that was completely from the heart, or would you want something showy and expensive without any sentiment attached to it?

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This scenario of disappointment concerning the gifts that we receive is not being mentioned to start a discussion on how much we should spend on gifts. The disappointment concerning gifts and how we may value them was not mentioned to start a debate over cheap vs expensive gifts or whether the dollar store should or shouldn't be an option for buying gifts. These examples that for some of us may have been or will be our real experiences were mentioned to highlight a few things as it concerns both gift giving and receiving and that is the reality that:

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• we might sometimes feel cheated by the gifts that we receive

• we won't always find the gifts that people give to us to be useful or valuable

• we might often feel like we deserve more than we received due to what we gave in return

• we might sometimes feel like no thought or sentiment was put into what was given to us

• we might sometimes find ourselves regifting something that we didn't want

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Why is it important that we discuss these highlights, aren't we discussing if He is worthy to be worshipped? Yes, we are! And that is exactly why these points were brought to your attention.

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Jesus is the gift that does not disappoint. God gave us this very precious 'child' who became the greatest man to ever walk the face of this earth. And we can be sure that everything that he will ever give us will ALWAYS OUTWEIGH and BE GREATER IN VALUE than anything that we can give him. And in many cases, the things that he gives us and does for us are things that we DON'T DESERVE but because of his grace, he gives these things to us anyway.

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Because of his grace he comes through for us even when we may have some doubt. Even in our imperfections, he still gives us his whole self. And most importantly, we are all on his list to receive this gift that he has to offer us. However, we must choose whether we accept it.

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God's gift of Jesus will always be useful. God's gift to us does not fail. Yet, we are more concerned with those holiday gifts that we at many times allow to ruin our entire holiday because our expectations were not met. We feel deprived of a worthy or valuable gift from those that we love not realizing that these gifts at some point will lose their value. They will get old. At some point down the line, we may find that some of these gifts will be too small or too big in size to continue to wear. At some point tech products will need new software or upgrades. Some of these gifts will no longer be 'trendy'. Some of these gifts will find themselves on a shelf, under the bed, in a drawer, on a table, desk, or nightstand not being used or no longer working. Yet and still, that one gift that we tend to overlook in lieu of something tangible NEVER STOPS WORKING, DOES NOT LOSE HIS VALUE, NOR LOSE HIS POWER! So, yet again I ask, "IS HE NOT WORTHY OF WORSHIP?"

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While there is nothing wrong with making the holiday season a time in which we express love and joy amongst our friends and family, let's not forget to celebrate and worship our God and our King who are the true cause for celebration. Let us not forget that without God and His Son, the Messiah, there would be no CHRIST to celebrate. We cannot keep celebrating CHRISTmas without the CHRIST! In our scripture highlight, Matthew 2:11, it states that the wise men opened "their treasures" and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Are you willing to open your treasure this holiday season and give God the gift that He deserves? And what's so special about our treasures is that they don't require money, check, or credit card in order to be issued to the recipient. Our treasures can't be held with our hands. Our treasures are not bars of precious metal or finely crafted wood. OUR TREASURES ARE OUR HEARTS!

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Will you open up your heart to God this holiday season? And when you open up your heart, while gold, frankincense, and myrrh you may not have, what are you willing to give Him? Can you give Him respect, praise, and worship that flows from a place of sincere gratitude and appreciation for being a God that fulfills His promises? Can you commit to trust Him? Can you worship Jesus for standing firm and not wavering and enduring all that he had to endure so that he could physically complete the fulfillment of the promise? Must we wait until Easter Sunday to reverence him for being the Risen King? The prophecy of the ruler who would shepherd Israel was fulfilled as soon as God spoke it which is why the shepherds, Simeon, Anna, and these wise men were able to worship him upon his birth and as a child because they understood HIS DESTINY. They had no doubt that it would come to past! Therefore, I ask you again, "IS HE NOT WORTHY OF WORSHIP?"

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Regardless of what your bank account looks like we all have something that we can give to God. He is not looking for designer labels, the season's must-haves, or things from the "What's Hot" list. All He wants is you. All He wants is your love. All He wants is your joy. All He wants is your sincerity. All He wants is your hope in Him. All He wants is your trust.

All He wants is your faith. Can you not give Him any of these things?

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For a man who saw fit to change the entire course of history so that we could be set free. For the child who became the man that would take the stripes to free us from bondage. Is there not anything from your treasure that you can offer unto the one who holds us and the entire universe in his hands? Jesus did not push us aside so that he could enjoy his life. He did not put our needs on pause so that he could celebrate what appeased his flesh. He instead gave in to the Spirit and accepted the stripes that would set us free. He had to be resurrected in order for us to live. So, I ask you again, "IS HE NOT WORTHY OF WORSHIP?"

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We won't all give Him the same gifts from 'our treasures' because we are all in a different place. Many of us are trying to figure some things out. Many of us aren't sure what we can give because sometimes life has a way of making us feel like we have nothing left. A couple of weeks ago we explored the story of Job and how he stood firm amidst his adversities. James 5:11 states, "As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy" (NIV). Even when we feel like we have nothing left we must realize that in spite of not having the tangible, we still have the Spirit of God within us that will sustain us and help to carry us through, which means that even in our darkest hours, we can still REJOICE! We can still do like Job did when everything started to be ripped away from him all at once, HE FELL TO THE GROUND AND WORSHIPPED!

 

Regardless of where we are this season, regardless of what we encounter this holiday, regardless of what we can't afford to give or don't receive, we still have the gift of Jesus. Therefore, there is cause for us to WORSHIP! God did not rob us of our chance at salvation, therefore why would you withhold anything from Him this holiday season? Why would you push Him aside and to the bottom of your list when the blood of His Son put you at the top of His? 

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Go ahead and trim your tree. Exchange your gifts. Do a line dance with the family wearing your ugliest Christmas Sweaters. Stand in the long lines at the post office to mail those gifts you should have mailed weeks ago. Ride around the mall looking for parking to buy those gifts that you knew you needed months ago. Rehearse for the Christmas Program and learn that speech that you were supposed to have memorized by now. But somewhere amidst all the chaos, the joy, the laughter, the frustrations, and all the other feelings and emotions that the holidays bring, I am not going to ask the question but I'm going to tell you the answer, "HE IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP!", so take away some time amidst all those other things TO DO JUST THAT!