A few years ago, I read a little blurb in some magazine about a family that had a Christmas tradition of giving their holiday gifts using "gold, frankincense, and myrhh" as a framework. I decided I could tweak the idea a bit, and make it something really meaningful for our house. I always "reteach" the kiddos at the beginning of the Christmas season about the three precious gifts of the Magi, and facts about the various gifts and their meaning. (You can find lots of information on the internet) We then organize our gift giving into those 3 categories :gold, frankincense, and myrhh.
GOLD: These are the extravagant gifts. God's gift to us in His only Son, Jesus, is extravagant. Gold is a precious metal, and was an expensive and extravagant gift for the Wise Men to give to Jesus. I give each child one main"gold" gift. They also get to pick out "gold" gifts for each other. These are usually "just for fun" toys, that they know each other are desiring. We wrap these gifts in gold paper, of course!
FRANKINCENSE: These are gifts for our spritual, educational, and emotional needs. Frankincense is an aromatic resin from a tree that is made into incense and perfumes because of its' fragrance. Smelling a sweet fragrance is good for us on the inside, so are these gifts. Examples are books, Bible studies, music, etc... Here are some neat facts about frankinsence: It comes out of a plant with a very hard bark. It actually "bleeds" out, and the resin that seeps out is called "tears". These plants can grow in extremely harsh circumstances, even on solid rock! Their root system is so strong, that even the strongest winds cannot uproot them. And guess what? The "tears" from these plants are even more fragrant and valuable! It is not hard to notice the parallels to our walk as Christians. The frankincense gifts have the purpose of keeping us strongly rooted in the Lord. We wrap these gifts in green paper to signify the strength of the tree.
MYRHH: These are gifts that benefit our physical bodies. Myrhh is also a sweet smelling resin that "bleeds" out of a tree, but it is mostly used for medicinal purposes. It is often used as an oil, and was one of the main oils used in the Egyptian embalming process. Many cultures have used myrhh in numerous ways to treat an impressive amount of maladies. We even use it today in our toothpastes and mouthwashes, and to lower cholesterol. Our "myrhh" gifts are usually articles of clothing. (Everyone has to get some new "slacks" for Christmas, right?) We wrap these gifts in red paper.
