Imagine getting gift of gold just for being born. And some frankincense and myrrh oil, too. It sounds like an awesome way to get started in life. And for regular ol’ humans, like you and me, it would be. But what if your birth was foretold? And I mean hundreds and even thousands of years before you were born.
That gift of gold, frankincense, and myrrh might take on a whole new importance.
Yeah. And if you were born in the “right place,” there could even be a lot of people who’d want to make sure you never saw the light of day.
Of course, Christians know what I’m talking about (or I should say Who). But you might have landed here by accident. Or maybe somebody passed this on to you. Whatever way you got here, if you don’t know the story of a little baby who kings wanted dead, well…
Consider the plight of a young, newly-married couple…Joseph and Mary. They had to go through an explanation of how Mary came to be pregnant before they were married.
(And it literally took visitations from angels to convince Joseph that Mary had remained chaste. They also had to convince Mary that she’d give birth to the Messiah).
After that situation was cleared up they had to go on a long trip to be registered for the census decreed by Augustus Caesar.
They made the trip to a town named Bethlehem. With Mary pregnant. Yikes! And they find nowhere to stay since so many people were in town for census registration.
Next they discovered that King Herod had a plan to kill all the male children 2 years old and younger in Bethlehem. Because he wanted to destroy this possible Messiah. Herod had heard this newborn baby would be King of the Jews, and he’d have none of it.
So, Joseph received another visitation.
From an angel telling him of Herod’s plan. And the angel told Joseph to take his baby and wife to Egypt. Yikes again! That would take a lot of money. Oh wait…they had the gift of gold from the wise men. And other gifts from the other people who came to worship the newborn King of the Jews.
Wow, you can imagine how treacherous a trip to Egypt would be with a newborn. The family would endure desert dryness and other harsh conditions.
But hold on a sec. Think about how the oil of Frankincense is an excellent skin moisturizer. Yeah, and it also helps support the immune system. And the oil of Myrrh is also good for the skin. And it appears to have beneficial effects on the hypothalamus, and pituitary. Oh yeah, let’s not forget amygdala, for emotional balance.
In other words, maybe not everything was a mere coincidence. Maybe Joseph, Mary, and their baby named Jesus got these gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh on purpose.
Maybe God’s wisdom and foresight had something to do with it all. Hmm…
But…I’m just a guy who writes words and music. What do I know?
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