Make Room for Jesus

Merry Christmas to all you Chainbreakers! I pray that you are blessed and that you and your families are healthy! I have been thinking and meditating on the Christmas story for a few weeks now. If you have not read through the story this year, take time to open your sword, and give it a fresh read. You can find the story in the book of Luke chapter 1-2, and/or Matt 1-2.

Our lives are so conditioned to habits and behaviors, most of these habits and behaviors are so routine we are unaware we have them. When I thought about this process two things came to my mind. The first was something most of us learned from our fathers, or a coach along the way. Baseball gloves when first purchased need to be conditioned. They need to be oiled, and a ball placed inside, then the glove is wrapped and placed under a mattress. This process continues until a spot has been formed for the ball, you have to make room for the ball if you will. If this is not done correctly then there will be problems catching the ball and holding on to it. One last point, it is a very difficult process to fix a glove that has been broken in improperly, the glove cannot always be repaired, thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our lives can always be repaired.

The second thought was how the habits and behaviors that we condition ourselves in do not usually have a positive effect on our eternity. When was the last time you examined your life? The world you have been raised in is a constant bombardment of commercialism. You need this, you must have that, places to go, things that are a must to do. The world tells us that we must attend every function. Our children must be involved in every program, or sport, especially on Sunday mornings. You must work two jobs and your wife must work two jobs (home is a job men!), or you will not have all the things that bring happiness. You are to worry about the future and how you will survive, and you are not to think about the past because it is gone and you cannot change it. The worlds view doesn’t tell you that God holds the future, and we must examine the past if we are going to learn how to live in the present! Your life becomes filled to overflowing with commitments, and habits, and behaviors, so full there is no room for anything else.

What does this have to do with the Christmas story? Do you remember the story, maybe you should stop and read it before you finish reading this, Gods word is always more powerfully than the latest preacher.

Luke 2: 6, “So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 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.” You have to make room for Jesus! There was no room at the inn, so the innkeeper made room for Jesus in the manger. We must make room for Jesus in our daily lives. Jesus makes the difference in our eternity. Can you imagine how this story would have read if they had no room for Jesus.

What would the Mary of today say to the angel? I have too much going on in my life to have Gods son, catch me later. Maybe Joseph would have been so blinded by his conditioning, so tired from his laboring that he would have ended the relationship, I mean come on a pregnant virgin? The Sheppard’s, would they have had to work a double shift so they could pay the cable bill, and did they have a baseball game for the kids at 6 and a soccer game at 8, there would be no way to make room for Jesus that night. The wise men, would they have been so concerned with their own comfort and leisure time that the idea of traveling half way around the world to bring aid to a less fortunate family would never have entered their mind. Let’s not forget the innkeeper. If he was managing a hotel today, he would have charged extra the moment the baby was born, rooms are priced per person. Can you imagine an inn keeper letting someone stay in a place other than a room own by the hotel, no way, the liability would be astounding.

Chainbreakers, we must make room for Jesus in our lives! I know that for the most part I am preaching to the choir. There are many of you that are making room for Jesus at great personal cost. We need to consider all this from time to time in our walk with the King. What is important, what is not? If this message bothers you, then examine it, repent of the busyness and make a commitment to make more room in the inn, then begin rejoicing in the forgiveness that we have in Christ. If this message is just confirming what you already know, then keep on pressing on! You are the Innkeeper of you heart. The more room you make for Jesus in your life, the more peace you will have daily, and the more those around you will see Jesus residing in your life.

May thee peace of God reign in your lives, may you and your families be blessed abundantly, and I pray you will share Jesus and all he has done for you with someone that has not yet made room for him, in their life!

Merry Christmas,
Paul