What is frankincense? And why did God rally the nations with a star so that they could lay it at the feet of His Son?
“The gifts are intensifiers of desire for Christ himself in much the same way that fasting is. When you give a gift to Christ like this, it’s a way of saying, ‘The joy that I pursue (Matthew 2:10) is not the hope of getting rich with things from you. I have not come to you for your things, but for yourself. And this desire I now intensify and demonstrate by giving up things, in the hope of enjoying you more, not things. By giving to you what you do not need, and what I might enjoy, I am saying more earnestly and more authentically, “You are my treasure, not these things.”‘” John Piper, “Good News of Great Joy” (free Advent ebook)
Love the video. Thanks for posting, Grace! Gonna share. :)
I’ve been fully enjoying your writing. Your honest recollections as well as your candidly slipped-in exhortations both fill me and make me hungry. You are achieving with your words what our dear Lord has intended. Thank you.