by John Grant
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
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“Some Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought him flocks: seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred goats.� 2 Chronicles 17:11
It is a tradition that goes back for centuries. Sometimes it comes out of respect, sometimes out of fear and not infrequently out of good business. I am talking about the time old tradition that when people meet the King they bring a gift.
It is as old as when the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts of precious metals as a tribute and the Arabs brought him animals. The King was a man who led a nation of great power and neighboring countries would purchase peace with the King of Judah.
This tradition has been vetted in the press this week as leaders from the top twenty countries of the world descended upon London to try and figure out what’s wrong with the world economy and who is going to take the responsibility to fix it. Our President presented the Queen with an engraved I-Pod, as his gift.
We read of the gifts of the Maji, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar in the Gospels…. Kings who followed a star to find the baby Jesus and became the first to worship Him.
Their gifts were fitting for a King… gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Some were ordinary gifts for a king — myrrh being commonly used as an anointing oil, frankincense as a perfume, and gold as a valuable. Others are prophetic — gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) as a symbol of priesthood and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death.
Sometimes this is described more generally as gold symbolizing virtue, frankincense symbolizing prayer, and myrrh symbolizing suffering. Did you think of what you would bring if you got to meet Jesus?
Well, someday, we will all visit Jesus and stand before Him. What he wants is not some thing, but some one…. YOU!
The greatest gift we can give Him is to accept Him, trust in His Word and give ourselves totally to Him. He wants us to live a truly holy life and there is no greater gift to give to our King,  King Jesus.               Â
(a thought on life from John Grant )
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http://thoughtsaboutgod.com/blog/2009/05/12/jg_royalty/