“Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh” (Matthew 2:11b).

These wise men from the East had traveled all this way to find the Messiah who was supposed to have been born. God had spread the word out all over that part of the world to a person here, another person there. There was expectation in the air. The time was right.

When they finally discovered the baby lying in the manger, they presented Him with gifts.

• These were gifts from their own treasuries; it cost them something to worship Jesus.
• These were gifts that had a purpose; they helped to finance the birth family’s trip to Egypt coming up just verses later.
• These were unilateral gifts; they only went one way, without any expectation of anything in return.

Are you giving any gift at all this Christmas that you don’t expect a gift in return? That is the Christian thing to do. New Year’s Resolution: I will find ways to give gifts from the treasury I have been given.