An Unconventional Christmas Eve Message
December 24, 2024
Every year I focus on a particular part of the Christmas story on which to meditate and I have become smitten and convicted by a verse that might appear quite mundane at first glance:
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)
Mary and Joseph showed up at an address and there was no room for Him there. Even more terrifying to me is that He then had to go somewhere else!
Because there was no room for Him in the inn.
And I can’t help wonder this Christmas season…
Am I turning Jesus away from taking up space in my heart? Can the Holy Spirit of God, who resides in me, go anywhere He wants to go, or do I have rooms blocked off? Can He enter any room He wishes?
I have been keenly interested in this concept because if the Savior doesn’t have the room He needs in my heart to do the work He wishes to do through me, then He will go do the work through someone else.
Am I turning Jesus away from taking up space in my home? Do I do all I can to create a place where God’s nature is expressed and He is enjoyed? Where His love is experienced? Are people welcome to knock on my door? Are people invited over? Do I share about my relationship with Jesus as readily as I share about my job, children, plans and recipes? Because if He doesn’t have the room He needs in my home, He will do the work He wants to do through someone else’s home.
Am I turning Jesus away from taking up space in my neighborhood? Am I reaching out to my neighbors? Are they invited over? Am I greeting them as they pass by? Because if He doesn’t have the room He needs in my neighborhood, He will move someone else into my subdivision to do His work.
Am I turning Jesus away from space at my job? Am I fully present, extending the love of God to all people I am talking to? Is my life an invitation to have more personal conversations? Does my office have an open door and anyone who enters knows they get my full attention? Because if He doesn’t have the room He needs in my workplace, He will “hire” someone else to do His work in that sphere of influence.
I don’t want to send my Savior elsewhere.
He is welcome in my inn.
And He can pick any room His chooses.
Picture Explanation: It snowed in our state and I decorated a little bit.
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I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6
3 Responses
Some wonderful and very convicting thoughts here… Almost 10 years ago now I wrote a song called “Bethlehem heart“. The chorus goes like this, “will you make a room in my Bethlehem heart , All the best rooms I’ve given away, will you still be born where it’s cold and it’s dark, in my own soiled stable, in my empty manger, will you make your room in my Bethlehem heart.”
Oh, do I want to hear that song. Sing it for me sometime?
I was blessed by your blog today! It touched my heart, and made me want to examine my life and evaluate my priorities. Thank you, Laurie!