Room In The Inn

"There was no room in the inn..."

The Christmas season is a busy and lovely time of the year. The weeks leading up to this holiday are filled with activities and celebrations.

There are many parties and festive celebrations. There’s shopping where gifts are lovingly purchased, wrapped, and exchanged with friends and loved ones. Concerts, plays, and musicals express the holidays with lively music and singers. Lots of baking is done with cookies, breads, and candies eaten or given as delectable and sweet gifts. As Christmas day draws closer, many candlelight services are held with special music, decorations, and inspiring messages about Christ during the holiday season.

I love it all. I love the decorations, the parties and the celebrations, and especially the gift giving. But in all of it can we sometimes miss the most important element: the Person whom we are trying to celebrate? In all our busyness are we too busy and too full to make room for the One we are meant to honor the most?

"They were forced to travel..."

Scripture reveals that Mary and Joseph were forced to travel during a tax census from their town of Nazareth. Many scholars believe it was also during a Jewish high holy day that the couple traveled to Bethlehem right outside of Jerusalem. During holidays, Jews were required to appear in Jerusalem to celebrate the holy days at the temple. But Mary, being very heavy with child, clearly went into labor on this journey.

With all the bustle and activity, and the influx of people, the couple could find no rooms available in any inn in which to stay. The overcrowded cities and places were booked and full. Instead, the couple was forced to take up residence in a nearby stable in which Mary gave birth to the Son of God. The mother of God was forced to reside in a stable where the Son of God was born in very humble and probably dirty circumstances.

There was no room in the inn.

This holiday season and in all the hustle and bustle the world brings, make room in the inn of your heart for the birth of Christ to come anew in your life.

Parties and celebrations. Concerts and festivities. Gifts and savory or sweet treats are all wonderful…but don’t miss the One whom we are trying to celebrate. Make room in the inn of your heart.

Beloved:

I am life itself and I created you for celebration. Your desire to give gifts is even a reflection of My nature and My heart. But don’t miss My Son as you celebrate this season. Make room for the intimacy that is found in worshipping Him and welcoming Him afresh. Draw near and He will reveal Himself to you.

 “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7)

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you...” (James 4:8a)The Christmas season is a busy and lovely time of the year. The weeks leading up to this holiday are filled with activities and celebrations.