How carefully are you when it comes to picking out a gift? Are you more careful with people whom you love than your co-workers? Have you ever purchased a gift for someone very special? Did you purchase an expensive gift? Or did you give them something that was special to you?
Gift giving can be a challenge. We want give a gift of equal value to the gift we receive from someone else. It can become a competition. One person trying to outdo another. Choosing a gift for someone special can require us to put a lot of thought into it.
It doesn’t matter if the gift is for a birthday, Christmas, or a special occasion. Giving the appropriate gift for someone we care for causes us to spend time thinking, looking, and finally choosing. The more special the person is to us, the more time we spend seeking the right gift. We put a lot of thought and love into choosing the gift and hope the person receiving it loves what we have chosen.
The wise men likely put thought into the gifts they brought to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. They brought three gifts that were fit for a king. The gifts were valuable and expensive. Though the wise men brought the gifts because they knew who Jesus was, those gifts also would provide a means of traveling and living for Mary and Joseph as they escaped to Egypt.
God provides us with gifts, we call them blessings, that prepare us for the future. We may see them as small blessings or large blessings. We may not even recognize them until later. Why does God bless us? He blesses us because he loves us, and we are special to him.
I pray we all see the blessings God blesses us with. I pray we know that God loves us. I pray each one of us realize that we are special to God and he cares for us very much. See God’s blessings. Know he is preparing you for the future. Know you are special. Know that God loves you.
Matthew 2:11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Marty Pressey 