Gifts from the Magi — Part 2: The Sweet Aroma of Myrrh
Even silent surrender leaves a fragrance—Christ in me.
Devotional Credit: eManna
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Today’s reflection from Witness Lee centers on the symbolic gift of myrrh, which represents death—and more specifically, the fragrance that death carries in the life of Jesus. While death among humanity has no fragrance but sorrow, in Christ, even surrender carries a sweetness. The story of twelve-year-old Jesus remaining behind in the temple reveals an early moment of self-denial. When His parents found Him and did not understand, Jesus did not defend Himself. Instead, He submitted and returned with them to Nazareth. That choice, quiet and unseen by the world, was already a crucifixion of His will.
Jesus lived under the shadow of the cross long before Golgotha. His entire life bore the fragrance of both resurrection and death—gold, frankincense, and myrrh were not only symbolic gifts, but visible patterns in His life. Today’s message is not just about Christ’s death on the cross, but His daily dying, and the fragrance it leaves behind in those who also yield to the Father. To live in union with Him means the sweet aroma of surrender will also rise from our lives.
✍🏼 Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
My child, the fragrance of My life in you is not released through achievement but through surrender. In Nazareth, long before the nails and thorns, I embraced the cross—not in spectacle, but in silence. My will was set on My Father, but I yielded to earthly parents who did not yet understand. That quiet descent was not weakness—it was love made fragrant through obedience.
The world prizes assertion, recognition, and applause. But I dwell in the unseen places—where your preferences are yielded, your voice is silenced by trust, and your way gives place to Mine. Do not underestimate the fragrance of hidden obedience. When you give up your will, your way, or your need to be understood, My life rises from you like myrrh offered in love.
This death is not the end—it is how resurrection breaks through. It is not a loss of who you are, but the yielding of who you were never meant to carry alone. The aroma of your surrender is precious to Me. Just as I walked under the cross daily, so now I walk it again in you—not to harm, but to bring forth life. In every moment you trust Me instead of yourself, heaven rejoices. The cross is not only at Calvary—it is alive wherever love yields and life flows.
Scriptures referenced: Luke 2:48–51; Romans 6:11; Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 4:10–11
🧺 Real-Life Analogy
It’s like lighting a stick of incense in a quiet room. No one sees the fire, but the fragrance begins to fill the space. It’s not the blaze that brings beauty—it’s the gentle, steady giving up of the incense that changes the air. So too, our quiet surrenders change the atmosphere with the presence of Christ.
🙏🏼 Prayer of Confidence
Father, I thank You for the beauty of surrender. Because Christ lives in me, I do not fear yielding—I rejoice in it. Every moment I release my will is a moment Your life is expressed through me. I trust that what feels like death to my plans is life in Your hands. I rest in the fragrance of myrrh, knowing that it rises not from loss, but from love. Thank You that Your Son is being seen in me, even when no one else notices.