No Room For Jesus

-December 16, 2022-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped Him swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was there was no room for them in the inn.”

(Luke 2:7).

The Holy Spirit chooses the words of Scripture very carefully, leading men to write them as God wanted them to be. He has a purpose for every word in every book, in every chapter in both the old and new testaments of the Bible. Thus all Scripture comes by the inspiration of God.

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The best definition of the word inspiration is found on the website gotquestions.com, which says, “In the context of the Scriptures, the word ‘inspiration’ simply means ‘God-breathed.’ Inspiration’ means the Bible truly is the word of God and makes the Bible unique among all other books.”’

In this glorious portion on the birth of Christ in Luke 2:1-7, the word “because” is used twice. Verses 4 and 5 say, “Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary his betrothed wife, who was with child. verse 7 says, “And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” It has been said the Jesus was born in a borrowed manger, died on a borrowed cross, and was buried in a borrowed tomb.

The word “because” is a very important and appropriate word used here. It is defined as, “the reason that, or since.” God had a definite reason for choosing a manger for His Son to be born in. A manger is simply a feeding troth for animals with all the sights and smells of the animals. It was a lowly place for the Son of God to be born in. God arranged the circumstances for it to happen just this way. There are many times in our lives where God does the same thing for us. Maybe we are running late, or our flight gets cancelled, or we get delayed or interrupted in some other way. We shouldn’t get upset or frustrated, but take everything from the Lord as part of His will and plan for us. We may not know until we get to heaven why things worked out the way they did. Let us leave the reasons and the seasons in God’s hands.

When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, after such a long journey there was no room for them in the inn. Crowds of people flocked to Bethlehem to be counted in the census decreed by Caesar Augustus. God directed him to do it at just the right time. It is important that the inn was full and the innkeeper offered them his manger. It is significant that there was no room for Jesus. Many people have no room for Jesus in their hearts and lives today. They have room for other people and other things, but not the Son of God.

There is room for work, business, politics, sports, family, friends, hobbies, and a host of things, but not for Jesus. In the last many years Jesus has been squeezed out of Christmas and replaced by Santa Claus and many other festivities, so much so that many don’t even know the true meaning of Christmas. Do you have room for Jesus in your heart, not only at Christmas but all through the year?

The unknown hymn writer wrote, “Have you any room for Jesus, He who bore your load of sin? As He knocks and asks admission, will you ever let Him in? Room for pleasure, room for business—but, for Christ the crucified, not a place that He can enter, in the heart for which He died?” Christ will not seek admission without our permission. He has given every person a free will, so He patiently wants for us to open our hearts to Him to be our Lord and Savior.

Have a blessed day and Christmas season with Jesus as the center and focus. Stay safe and healthy.

Giving Jesus first place,

Dean