Luke 2:7 …and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
It wasn’t a special day. I was living out my normal schedule. Running from one meeting to another, making phone calls as I traveled, and thinking about the things I needed to do in the free moments at stop lights. I pulled up to the church. Really quick now, I told myself, “you need to get in, get out, pick up ____, ____, ___, and get to the next place. Hurry!”
Then this verse came to my head. “…there was no room for them in the inn.” Wow, what an odd verse to run through my head when I am thinking about getting things accomplished. After all it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet! Why am I already thinking about Christmas? (maybe because it was getting close to the deadline for this article?)
“…there was no room for them in the inn.” The words came to me again. Hmm, I wonder… no, gotta fly, people are waiting on me. I need to get in, get out, and go.
“…there was no room for them in the inn.” Once again, these words floated through my mind. Finally I realized that it was probably the Holy Spirit working on me. So I stopped just a moment and wondered… could it be possible that there was no room in my inn? Well at least in my day? Wait a minute, I already had my personal devotional and prayer time, God; I made room for you this morning…what do you mean, there is no room?
Yet those words swirled around me once again.
My friends, we are entering a time when the world just gets faster and faster. Our calendars are getting fuller and fuller. Our commitments are becoming greater and greater, and maybe, just maybe, we are not making room for the real meaning of Christmas. Maybe the ‘inn’ is the place in our daily lives that we stop to invite the Christ child to help us see the world from the perspective of innocence and fun. How much room have we set aside in our calendar to experience the wonder of birth and life? How much room do we have in our day to be quiet and reflect upon the joy of God’s greatest gift?
This advent, I invite you to stop and intentionally make room…make room in your day; make room in your schedule, and in your life to encounter Emmanuel, God with us!
Happy Advent!
~Pastor Kathleen
