No Vacancy

Have you ever been in a strange place with nowhere to stay?  It can be very disconcerting.

A few years ago, I experienced such a thing.  My dad and I had traveled to attend a NASCAR race.  We have hotel reservations, but when we arrived, they had no record of our reservation.  Even with a confirmation number, nothing showed up. To make a very long story short, we spent the night sleeping in my dad's van because there was literally no room for us in the inn, or any inn, for that matter.

It can frustrating to get somewhere only to find out you have no place to go.  I imagine Joseph and Mary experienced that same frustration that first Christmas night.  Only there frustration was magnified because of Mary's pregnancy and Jesus's imminent birth.

Luke 2 tells us that Jesus was laid in a manger - which is a feed trough - because there was no room for them in the inn.  Now, the Greek for inn may refer to a guest room and not a hotel, but the implication is the same.  They had no place to go, so they gave birth somewhere close to where animals were kept.  Jesus's first crib was a feed trough.

Jesus came to a place that was too crowded for his arrival. 

Are things all the different today?  We push so much into the Christmas season.  We give to special charities and events.  We have Christmas parties for school, work, church, and family.  We rush out to get the best Christmas gifts for friends and family.  We hurriedly scamper from place to place shopping, singing, spending, talking, watching and giving.

What room is there for Jesus?

In a time when we crowd so much stuff into such a small window, it becomes easy to leave Jesus out in the cold of our Christmas celebration.  We literally have no room in our inn for the Savior and a celebration of his birth.

Let's make a concerted effort this year to have room for Jesus in our crowded Christmas schedule.  We shouldn't just keep Christ in Christmas, but we should be Christ at Christmas.  There is no better way to celebrate the Savior than making room in our inn for others who need the touch of Christ.

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