The third gift from the magi, myrrh, is full of both hope and sorrow throughout scripture. This is reflected by the reality that Jesus is the ultimate prophet -  He IS God's steadfast love, faithfulness and hope brought to life in the midst of sorrow. None of these gifts from the magi make something true about Jesus. They represent the truth of who He is: a king who reigns, a priest who redeems, and a prophet who reveals.

The second gift the magi brought King Jesus was frankincense. In Exodus, we learn that the scent was used in the tabernacle and was presented to God by the high priest with an animal sacrifice, representing prayers of repentance rising to heaven. The magi presenting this gift to Jesus foreshadowed that he would become our ultimate high priest and stand in the gap for our atonement.

The magi in Matthew 2 recognized that as King, Jesus deserved their first and best - that was their gold. Many of us attempt to use our "gold" - the wonderful gifts God has given us - to buy a sense of satisfaction; but everything else we try to put out hope and faith in can never satisfy what we're truly longing for. What's holding you back from giving your first and best to the king today?

As we wrap up our Vaux|cation series, we dive into how our work matters right now, and is just as important in the future. You can love or hate what you do, but do it all for God's glory and the Kingdom.

God cursed the field and the family. Our work is hard and frustrating at times because it is cursed—God’s protection and blessing has been removed from these areas as a result of the fall.

God is a worker and God cares about our work. Throughout the Bible, the portrait of work that we are offered is not divided by sacred and secular, but good/right and bad/evil work. We have the opportunity and privilege to discover the kind of work that God is calling us into and partner with Him to take the world someplace.

There is an intimate connection between who we are and what we do. The prefix “vaux” just means to be worthy of; it’s where we get the word ‘valor’. God makes us worthy of work—an opportunity to partner with Him to take the world somewhere.

The Holy Spirit points the spotlight on Jesus, reveals who he is, guides us to Jesus and glorifies him (makes him beautiful). We must recognize our limits if we are to experience the potential that Jesus has for us.

The school of suffering is one that none of us can avoid and one that God uses to change and mature us. We have a choice: to trust in the darkness, to trust that God, that God is present in our suffering, and that God will make all things new.

If we don't do the painful, humiliating, and liberating work of cheerfully bringing our failures out from the darkness, we're limiting our growth! We must bring our sins into the light acknowledgement before a Christian brother or sister.