We are moving right along as we go through the Twelve Days of Christmas taking a deeper look at the meaning behind each of the gifts that our True Love has given to us. Each is unique and has a purpose of teaching us something about the Christian life.
Previously, we have looked at the Two Turtledoves, which we learned represented the Old Nad New Testaments. Both of these make up the Bible, comprised of sixty-six smaller books. Although some may be tempted to throw out the Old Testament (after all. Jesus has come), it is necessary for us to still read and learn from as it points to our need for the New Testament, and Jesus’ work on the cross.
Before our dive into turtledoves, we took a look at the Partridge in the Pear Tree. We learned that the Partridge was meant to represent Jesus and his death on the cross. Since these gifts are repeated, building on each other, it stands to reason that the most important gift- and theblesson meant to be taught the most – is that God gave his Son (John 3:16), who died on the cross and rose again on the third day, making sakvation through faith availablento all who believe.. Undeniably, the most important gift that we receive.
Now that we have made it to Day Tbree of the Twelve Days, we are going to take a look at Three French Hens.
Three French Hens
Why would anyone give french hens as a gift?
Personally, althoug I’m not against the idea of raising chickens – after all. They are the gift that keeps on giving (eggs, feathers, meat, more chickens) – but that is NOT the type of gift I would want from my true love. And if I did get them, I’d hope I got to help pick out my chickens.
However, these are not only chickens that serve as a practical gift, but these hens are actually: Faith, hope and charity.
Let’s take these one at a time.
Faith: We tend to think of faith as believing in something that isn’t possible, or believing in something contrary to proof. I would be more comfortable to say that faith is believing that something is possible, but beyond what we can do. Ot is the absolute conviction that God is able to do the anything because he is God.
Hope: Similar to faith, there is often a misconception about what hope is. We tend to think of hope as being wanting something to happen that we have no assurance of. Conversely, hope in its original sense is confidence in what is going to happen. Hebrews 11:1 talks about in things not seen. If you read b through the Old Testament, more specifically the prophets, you will see that the Hebrew people had hope in the coming of the messiah.
Charity: In English we have a very different meaning for charity than what people would have had when this song was used as a teaching tool. In modernity, we think of charity more along the lines of giving to those who are less fortunate or we think of those who are recipients of the giving as “Charity Cases.” Charity would probably be better understood as brotherly love, where you want to care for others, not because you are a “have” and someone else is a “have not” but simply because we care about others as they are they Imago Dei (image of God) the same way you and I are.
As you can see, like the French Hens we are given on the Third Day, and will continue to receive for the following nine days, these are gifts that keep on giving: Faith, Hope, and Charity. These gifts may not always be appreciated by others but they are all gifts that we have been given by our True Love: God.
Road Trippin With Rachael 
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