“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:6-7)
What a wondrous story! The greatest ever to be told: The birth of our Lord and Savior! But wait! Something is wrong with the story! The greatest birth on Earth has just occurred, yet there aren’t any of the things that we would normally think should associate even an ordinary birth, let alone an extra-ordinary one! In fact, the world’s greatest birth has just happened in a barn! Imagine that! Not in a hospital, not even in Mary’s own home, but in a barn! Where is the sterile birthing bed, the sterile floor tiles? Replaced by a hay-covered dirt floor! And the doting doctors and nurses? Ordinary cows, sheep — and a very tired donkey — are the only ones attending this birth. What about the clean smell of antiseptic? In its place, the overwhelming stench of manure. Where is the incubator and the birthing blankets? A strip of cloth torn from Mary’s undergarments lining a straw-filled manger! But why? Why did the greatest birth take place in a barn? Why wasn’t there even a tiny little room in the Inn?
Of course we’ve all learned that Jesus’ lowly birth was in fulfillment of prophecy and that it was in keeping with the message of humility that Jesus modeled throughout His earthly life. But I would like to suggest that there is perhaps yet another reason that the world’s greatest birth happened in a hay-strewn animal shelter: “. . . because there was no room for them in the Inn” (Luke 2:7)! The poor Innkeeper and his wife bypassed the most
important event in their lives because there was “no room”! The humble little Inn missed out on the most glorious part of its history because there was “no room”!
What about you? Do YOU have room for Jesus? Do you have room for His “birth” within you? Is there room for His “growth” in your heart? Is there room in your busy lives to have a friendship with Him? To learn of Him? To worship Him? To meet together for pray and study, uplifting one another in His name? Is there room in your ambitions and dreams to fulfill His commission — the GREAT commission? Or is the most important thing in your life about to slip away because there is “no room” in YOUR “Inn” for Jesus?
Dear Lord, today I chose to put aside everything that is standing between us. I chose to throw out everything that keeps me from pursuing a friendship with you, from learning of you and worshiping you, from praying and studying, uplifting my fellow brothers in your name, and from fulfilling the great commission. Lord, show me what continues to occupy my time, so that I may make “room” in my heart for You!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org