10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2:10-11

The Apostle Matthew tells us of the profound effect the Christ Child had on the wise men. It wasn't a casual encounter. They were so overwhelmed by the presence of the young Jesus that they "fell down and worshiped Him", and after that they "opened their treasures".

Worship precedes giving.

We often highlight the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but seldom do we look at the part where the wise men worshipped Jesus. Sometimes we get it wrong. We put giving before worship. We hear lots of messages telling us to "make sacrifices for God" but they come off as grossly inaccurate and harmful. They make you believe that God is more concerned with your performance than your heart.

Making sacrifices for God is a form of self glorification.

It creates the most complex vicious circle where you base the quality of your spiritual depth and energy on how much you are willing to part with—until a breaking point is reached. This explains why many believers suffer from ministry burnout and spiritual disappointment because their service or giving causes them to lose concentration on God.

God is most satisfied if all we want is His presence and friendship.

True worship frees us from making sacrifices. It actually unites us with God and it is through this unity of mutual love and friendship that we are empowered to manifest the giving quality of God in our daily lives. This is because when we worship, we are reflecting back to God His generosity towards us. In short, giving is the natural consequence of our supernatural worship.

The laying of the wise men’s treasures was never the story of how their gifts made Christ rich but the story of Christ who is the gift of God's grace that made them rich. They could well empty their treasures before Christ as their act of worship because He has already filled their hearts with something better and greater, in which all their combined wealth cannot buy.