The gold calls us to turn to Our Lord and make him the King of our lives, the effective Master of our hearts and minds throughout each day: to surrender our liberty completely to him so that we no longer regard ourselves as free to think or speak or act as we like but only as he likes – though paradoxically, it is only by making him our Master that we become masters of ourselves. For to be the servant of our lower self is a slavery from which his service gives us freedom.

And, as the gift of incense which the Three Kings offered, reminds us, the way to win that freedom is by worship, that is, by consciously offering to God, in love and adoration, our hearts and minds and all that we are: without that offering, our worship must be an empty and futile ceremony.

For worship is not just a matter of going through the motions of attending a service; of kneeling for the prayers; of listening to a sermon; of singing the hymns, and then going out. Only when we actually give ourselves and our lives to God does all that come alive.