“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Luke 2:6-7
Poor Joseph. He was tired from the journey, but more anything else Joseph was worried about the well-being of his young wife and the baby that was to be born. Frustration and fear must have set in when, as a last option, Joseph had knocked on the door of a public inn hoping to secure a room for his little family’s stay in Bethlehem, only to be turned away once again.
The city was overwhelmed with floods of people returning to be registered for Caesar Augustus’ decreed census. Desperate for shelter, Joseph must have begged the innkeeper for a quiet corner where his pregnant wife could rest. The innkeeper shook his head and pointed towards a cave-like animal shelter.
Poor Mary. Bone-weary from the difficult 90-mile journey from Galilee to Bethlehem and swollen with the baby that was soon to arrive, Mary was left with no alternative but to deliver her baby – God’s Son – in a stable surrounded by animals with her inexperienced new husband acting as mid-wife.
I’ve pitied Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus because of the rough, uncomfortable, cold, and unsanitary conditions of their straw-filled delivery room. I’ve been in a barn where the animals feed. At its cleanest best, if animals are present, it’s going to be a stinky, sticky situation. Eeewww – nasty flashbacks!
Meanwhile, safe and warm at the inn, the innkeeper and his guests slept, quietly conversed, or complained about Caesar’s decree that had dragged people back to their town of origin for a census.
The more I think on this story of Christ’s birth, the more I know that it is the innkeeper and his guests who should be pitied. Only steps away from the inn, a world-changing event of cataclysmic proportion was underway, and they were unaware.
The innkeeper and his guests did not know that the long-awaited and much-prophesied arrival of the Messiah was happening that very night in the nearby stable. They did not know that Jehovah God had sent His Only Son to take on flesh and break into our world in the form of a newborn baby boy. They missed the entire angel-celebrated, shepherd-attended, star-lit event.
So close to the miraculous, but the innkeeper and his guests missed out because there was no room for Joseph and Mary at the inn.
– They missed out on the miraculous.
– They missed out on a God-encounter.
– They missed out on an opportunity to the serve the baby King of All Creation.
– They missed out on the chance to raise their voices in worship of God and celebration of the newborn Messiah along with the shepherds and the angels.
– They missed out. . .
Because there was no room at the inn.
Dear Friend, what do you miss out on when you don’t make room for Jesus: when your busy schedule crowds Him out, when you make no room in your day to talk to your Heavenly Father or read His Word or think on Him? What are you missing?
That’s the first question you must ask yourself, “What am I missing? Am I missing out on. . .
– Miracles and works of God in my life?
– God-encounters?
– Access to the blessings and promises of God? (growing faith, assurance of salvation, strength for the day, peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, and so much more)
– Opportunities to grow in my faith?
– Opportunities to serve?
– Opportunities to praise?
The second question you must ask – this is more important than the first – do you really understand what it meant when you prayed the sinner’s prayer and gave your life to Christ?
When You received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, Jesus was not asking for short-stay temporary accommodations – not just a room for the night. In fact, Jesus was not looking for a room at all. Jesus wanted, and still wants, the whole house – all of it. Every room, every closet, the attic, the basement, every nook and cranny of your life – He wants it all. All. Of. YOU.
Why? Certainly not because He wants to take everything away from you and leave you with nothing. Not at all!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Jesus wants you to be so much more than you were at that moment when you received Him – so much more than you are today – so much more than you will be tomorrow. For that to happen you must surrender everything to Him.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:19-20
You make room for Jesus by giving Him your all.
In return, you get EVERYTHING.
“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. … And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:6, 9-11