SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 18
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers– the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty. [Isaiah 18:7]
For centuries God’s people in the promised land were under attack from their neighbours.
In their glory days under David and Solomon, the neighbouring nations respected them and honoured them with valuable gifts; but for most of their history from then on, they were beaten and pillaged by their neighbours.
But here Isaiah promises that a day is coming when the “aggressive nation of strange speech” (in this case, the people of Egypt) will bring gifts, not rob them of their gifts.
At that time they will be humbled, and will honour God and His chosen people.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. [Matthew 2:10-11]
The wise men represent a partial fulfillment of this prophecy; though not from Egypt, they come from the region of Babylon which long oppressed Israel and robbed them of their gifts.
But here we have these one time aggressors of strange speech bringing gifts to the Lord.
This is only a partial fulfillment; the complete fulfillment will be on the last day when Jesus is finally established on His throne on earth (as it is in heaven) and every knee bows down to Him and honours Him with their wealth.
In describing the city of this king, John states: The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. [Revelation 21:24-26]

As Jesus’ follower today, we anticipate the day when all the earth and its glory will belong to Him; until then we follow the wise men in honouring Him with our wealth now.
All that we have, all that we acquire, we dedicate to Him and His kingdom purpose.
We do not see our wealth as something for ourselves simply to enjoy, we see it as an opportunity to bless the Lord by blessing others.
Are we, like the wise men, honouring the King NOW, even though He does not appear to be King?
Are we, like the tall and smooth skinned people of strange speech, offering our gifts, our resources, our time, our hearts, to honour Him and serve His purpose?
The Lord is not looking for a token, He is looking for our whole being, for gifts from the heart!

PRAYER:
Lord, help me to do more than just talk about honouring You with my wealth and gifts, help me to actually do it, to use my resources in a way that blesses You and others!