Imagine getting gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh just for being born.

It sounds like an awesome way to get started in life. And for most of us regular run-of-the-mill humans it would be. But if your birth was foretold for hundreds or even thousands of years…and if there were a lot of people who wanted to make sure you never saw the light of day…

Gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh might take on a whole new importance.

Consider the plight of a young, newly-married couple…Joseph and Mary. They’ve just gotten through an explanation of how Mary came to be pregnant before they were married. It literally took visitations from angels to convince Joseph that Mary had remained chaste and to convince Mary that she’d give birth to the Messiah. After that situation is cleared up they find they have to go on a long trip to be registered for the census decreed by Augustus Caesar.

They make the trip to a town named Bethlehem with Mary pregnant, and they find nowhere to stay since so many people are in town for census registration. Next they discover that King Herod devises a plan to kill all the male children 2 years old and younger in Bethlehem in order to get to this possible Messiah. Herod had heard this newborn baby would be King of the Jews, and he’d have none of it.

Well, Joseph receives another visitation.

From an angel telling him of Herod’s plan. And the angel tells Joseph to take his baby and wife to Egypt. Yikes! That’s gonna take a lot of money. Oh wait…they have the gold from the wise men and others who came to worship the newborn King of the Jews.

Wow, a trip to Egypt would be treacherous with a newborn. The family would endure desert dryness and other harsh conditions. Hmm…the oil of Frankincense is an excellent skin moisturizer, 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, also the amygdala…for emotional balance.

In other words, it might not be a mere coincidence that Joseph, Mary, and their baby named Jesus got these gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh. It might have been God’s wisdom and foresight.

But…I’m just a writer who tells stories. What do I know?

In Faith, Hope, and Love,