TEXT: “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”(Luke 2:7).
CONTEXT: Luke 2:1-7
The idea of “inn” / hotel / resort” conjures up images of luxury, comfort, and royal treatment: Buffet meals, squeaky clean crockery, sterling silverware and the like! While the inns of Bible times may not have had all the luxuries we know today, they were certainly luxurious when compared to the smelly, grimy stable which the Saviour of the world was born in!
Surely we’d expect the Saviour of the world; the King of Glory to have been given a place in the lap of luxury! But alas!
There was no fresh, soft linen-lined crib. He needed to be content with swaddling, hessian sacks. Why? There was no room in the inn!
There was no thick pile carpet to tickle his tiny toes. Straw-strewn, dung-covered floors had to suffice. Why? There was no room in the inn!
No soft, serene music filling the lounge air. The lowing of cows and the bleating of sheep was all that the Saviour had to “serenade” Him to sleep. Why? There was no room in the inn!
Jesus Christ, who left glorious riches of Heaven behind to step into the realm of mankind, was allocated, assigned and confined to a dark, gloomy, smelly stable! Why? There was no room in the inn!
“No room in the inn” is a statement that echoes through the corridors of history, from generation to generation, across the length and breadth of the earth, from the hearts of humankind. The King of kings and Lord of lords sits in the back corner of the “stable” because the best parts of one’s life in many cases are occupied by other things. The Founder and Head of the Church is delegated to the corner of the “stable”, while men and women vie for titles, positions and power!
During the hustle and bustle of Christmas, the best areas of many individual’s lives are filled and occupied by stuff when the Christ of Christmas is confined to the back corner of a smelly “stable”, conveniently ignored!
Friend, let’s make room for Jesus this Advent!
Pause and reflect:
· Have you gotten so busy doing, that you are struggling just to be?
· Have other “things” taken up more time and place than they ought to?
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, forgive the clutter, the mess
Things occupying my heart’s space;
Come in to stay, clean out the junk
Of the rubbish of sin, remove every trace