The Gifts the Magi ReceivedSample

Day 1: The Gift of the Bible

Welcome to this 3-day journey with the magi. Each day, we’ll see a gift God gave the magi and still offers us today. The first gift the magi are given in this story is the gift of revelation, that is, knowledge about God. The star is the most famous example of this gift of revelation. It signals to the magi that a new king has come and it guides them to Him like a cosmic GPS system (Matthew 2:2, 9). The star is—excuse the pun—a shining example of how God can guide people to Him using the world He has made. But the gift of the star can only get the magi so far. They needed more specific directions if they were to finish their quest to meet the new king (and the same applies to us today).

After seeing the star, the magi head for Jerusalem, the ruling city where you’d expect to find a new king. They start asking the new king’s whereabouts, rumours circulate, one thing leads to another, and the magi end up meeting with king Herod. He’s told the promised birthplace of the Messiah is Bethlehem and he passes this information to the magi (Matthew 2:4-8).

This is the other example of the gift of revelation that is given to the magi: the gift of the Bible. The gift of the star gets the magi to Jerusalem, but the gift of the Bible (via Herod) gets them all the way to Jesus. The magi’s journey provides a precious reminder of the gift of the Bible. God uses the world around us to point us in His general direction, but He also gives us the Bible to give us specific knowledge about Him which takes us directly to Him.

Just consider how much easier the magi’s journey would have been if they’d had the Bible in the first place. They had to go to great lengths to meet Jesus, yet today, in this very moment, we have the means of meeting Jesus in the palm of our hands.

There’s a powerful moment in the coronation ceremony of British monarchs. The new monarch inherits palaces, country estates, and priceless jewels. Yet one gift surpasses them all. During the ceremony, they are handed a new, hand-bound Bible with these words: “We present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords.” God’s revelation of Himself through His creation (like the star the magi followed) and especially through the Bible, is a precious gift, and you and I are holding it in the palm of our hands. It’s a gift that’s worth unwrapping.

Reflect:
Are you grateful for the gift of the Bible? Try wrapping a ribbon around your Bible to remind you that it’s God’s gift to you today.