id Myrrh
/Kenneth L. Pike
gold? Someone has to carry the fra grance — who is going to do it? Not those of us who are supposed to be scholars but are also cold and dry and bookworms. And then there are those people whom God chooses to take myrrh to heaven. They get to the mission field and everything goes wrong. Perhaps they get sick; they fail. They die inside long before their bodies die. And their failures hurt. And yet, committed unto God they continue serving — with myrrh. What do we have to offer? When we get to heaven and the Lord bums with fire the dross, will there be left a little nugget of gold, of solid work, of unlost effort? “ But if any man buildeth on the founda tion gold, s i l v e r , costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it” (1 Cor. 3:12, 13, ARV). In that day we’ll know if we have any exchange for our labor with which to make a crown of gold. “ The four and twenty elders shall fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art thou, our Lord . . (Rev. 4:10, 11, ARV), And any crown that we have, we too will cast at His feet and say, “Dear Lord, worthy art Thou to take the book. This gold is nothing; just a little work. You take it.” Or, “ All I have is a little frankincense. You take it.” Or perhaps our gift is one of myrrh, that precious gift, but on e w h i c h anybody can have. Whichever the gift, we still say, “Thou art worthy . . . for thou wast slain, and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kin dred, and tongue, and people, and nation” — You take it, Lord. END.
selves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead” (2 Cor. 1:9, ARV). Bro ken that myrrh might be found in us, that we might have it on that great day when we open our treas ure chest, that we might have that product of the spice of death work ing out in life —- death to us, life to others. Some of you are afraid that you will have nothing to offer on that great day. You look at yourselves and say, “No brains, no ability, therefore no gold and nothing to offer.” Don’t you realize that from such people comes the frankincense oftentimes more p r e c i ou s than does Christmas really mean to me?” Is it just a.time for gift giving and receiving or do you think of that one who gave the first wonder ful gift when He came to the manger in Bethlehem? As momentous as His birth in human body was, as terrific as the impact of His life has been on the history of mankind, His birth and life would be no more than extra ordinary had He not gone to Cal vary. Without His death on the cross to meet the righteous demands of a holy God, Christmas would be a hollow noise, without hope be yond this life. Jesus Christ came clothed in flesh, not alone to give us a time of happy holiday, but to open the way into God’s very pres ence when the days of our lives on this earth are over. —Althea Miller
struggle as his by choice. T h a t ’ s d y i n g d a i l y . That’s myrrh. It’s bitter, this long-lasting spice. “For we who live are always deliv ered unto death for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:11, ARV). Death to our desires; life to what God wants. Death to our hopes; life to God’s hopes. Death to us; life to those who hear the gospel from us. There is no escape. Every day we’re given up to death, for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may he manifested in our mortal flesh. This is myrrh. Broken with problems too big for us — “We ourselves have had the sentence of death within our I f parents tried, they could not ignore this wonderful season of the year. Wide-eyed youngsters trying to be especially good literal ly ache with longing for the arrival of that great and notable day. With studied casualness our teen-agers attempt to behave in grown-up manner as though Christmas were just another day. But the glow of anticipation which sh ines f r om every fiber of their beings belies the outward calm. Christmas is a wonderful time of the year because it is a time for giving. Regardless of the spirit in which we give, hearts are opened and the very thrill of giving be comes contagious, often attacking the hardest-shelled cynic alive. In the midst of all the excite ment and bustle of activities, have you ever asked yourself, “What
D L W e a n i n a o f C - h r i i t m a i
The King's Business/December 1957
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