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Christmas At Our House
Devotional for Monday, December 25, 2006 by David Leggatt
Matthew 2:11 - 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. (NKJV)Christmas Eve at our house has always been a time of high excitement and anticipation. Unfortunately, it was not always for the right reasons.
Our tradition for the 34 years my wife and I have been married has been to go to the Christmas Eve service (usually early at 7:30 p.m.). We would then come home and enjoy a snack of cheese dreams (half a hamburger bun covered with melted cheese and a slice of cooked bacon) and then we got to open one and only one Christmas present.
The tradition didn't change when our children came along, but the excitement seemed to get a little more intense. They didn't really want to wait until after church and wolfed down the cheese dreams to get to the one present they had selected.
Last year when Christmas fell on Sunday, there were a lot of questions about how things were going to work. Everyone knew that since I am the local Presbyterian minister, we would be going to church Sunday morning, so the kids tried to wheedle opening all their presents on Christmas Eve. It didn't work, though, as we stuck to the Christmas Eve tradition, and on Sunday the presents were late -- they weren't opened until after worship.
I often wonder how much excitement and awe there was when the wise men presented their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Were Mary and Joseph excited, afraid, or just overwhelmed? Let's think of the poor peasant couple surrounded with these great men of philosophy, astronomy, and learning. These men were probably kings in their own country or countries. Yet here they were coming to worship the "King of kings and Lord of lords." Did they even realize what had brought them to be with Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus? The Bible tells us they followed the star. One tradition has them arriving the night of Jesus' birth along with the shepherds. Some scholars say they may have arrived as much as several years later, but does the time of their arrival really matter?
These men came with their gifts and fell down and worshipped our Lord and Saviour. Should we not take a lesson from them? Should we not fall on our knees at Christmas, and all the days of our lives, to worship Jesus and to give Him our gifts -- gifts of money, time, and talent?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as we celebrate Your birth this year, help us not only to see the presents under the tree at our homes but also to see You. Help us to give to You our presents, just as the wise men did so many years ago. Amen.
David Leggatt <leggattd@sympatico.ca>
Wiarton, Ontario, Canada
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Today's Music:
Away In A Manger.