Giving gifts at Christmas the Biblical-Christian way. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Gold-gift is given from us to another person, sacrificial from a money or time-invested cost. It is something they are likely to value. The Frankinsense-gift is for the purpose of sharing with someone else. It may be a game or toy that requires more than one person to enjoy, a tool of ministry, a musical instrument to be used in a ministry context, etc. The Myrrh-gift is given in our name. It is purely for someone else - we keep nothing except the knowledge that someone has been blessed. It may be a donation to a Biblical-Christian sponsored food kitchen, Bibles for military chaplains or missionaries, a scholarship (full or partial) toward someone-elses mission trip,retreat, or other group-discipleship/evangelical purpose, a donation to a Christian- based foster care organization, a gift certificate for Christmas dinner for a needy family, or something similar - always in the name of Christ. Below please find an article which describes the Biblical-basis of this idea. The author is a ministry acquaintance has done some volunteer editing work for me over the years. Wise Men Lay Their Treasures Down "They came in to the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." Matthew 2:11 Wise men and women still lay their treasures down at the feet of Jesus. The ?treasures? wise men willingly lay down, surrender, and give to God daily are figuratively similar to the treasures the wise men brought to the baby Jesus, the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." The gift of Gold we lay at His feet is our love of worldly wealth, which is often how we and others measure our worth. If we lay down before God our love of wealth and possessions we are left with measuring our worth using God's "yardstick" which marks off our righteousness, faith, obedience, love, charity, et cetera. These are more precious to wise men than gold. It is not what we have but who we are that speaks of our value to God, ourselves, and others. The gift of Frankincense we lay at His feet is our fragrance in the world. A sweet aroma is given when, laying down our desire to do what we want when we want, we choose instead to live as God calls us to. This is a lifestyle witness with the pleasing fragrance of Love which attracts others to God. The gift of Myrrh we lay at His feet is our willingness to die to "self," evidenced by laying down and burying our own wants and self-focused actions. Wise men put others' needs, wants, and good before their own, preparing who they were for burial so that they may be "born again" in service to God. By laying down our gifts at the feet of Jesus, we offer to Him what we have, treasuring more our value to Him; how we live, attracting others to Him; and who we are, allowing Him to live in us by death to self. Merrilee Clark, Christmas 2001