Keeping Christ in CHRISTmas Day #4 Making Room for the Redeemer

Keeping Christ in CHRISTmas – Day #4 Making Room for the Redeemer (Luke 2:1-7)

Making Room for the Redeemer (Luke 2:1-7)

Two Floridian men found a way to make better use of their time when their wives went off Christmas shopping, they decided to go sailing. Shortly after, the sunny skies gave way to fierce winds and storm clouds. The winds tossed their boat back and forth. After hours of wrestling the winds and waves, the boat thrusted into a sandbar near the shoreline. The men hopped out of the boat and started pushing as waves crashed over them. Soaking wet from head to toe and covered with mud, one man had a grin on his face as he said, "It sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn't it?"

While most of us men would rather do just about anything than go shopping at Christmas time, some people simply can't do without the hustle and bustle. Regardless, we must make room for the Person behind it all, Christ, our Saviour. The Son of God was given for you and me. So, before you prepare to charge up your credit card for gifts, invest in the amazing gift they advertised on television, and start mixing the ingredients to your family's favorite dessert, center your thoughts on the One whose birth made it all possible. Take a moment to thank God for the gift of His Son today.

I’m not as hard on the keeper of the inn as many people are. For seven years I worked in hospitality for a number of hotel chains. I have had the unfortunate obligation of telling people, “we are sold out!” To me, the innkeeper was making the best of a bad situation. You’ve sold all your rooms, but this young lady is about to give birth, so you scramble for the best solution you can muster up in a hurry. Let’s face it, it wasn’t the best room, but it was room. Somebody got creative and made it happen. Let’s consider this thought. How could the innkeeper not find room for Mary, who was pregnant, and Joseph? What exactly was he doing? How could he not find this poor girl a bed? What we do know is that the innkeeper just didn’t know. If he’d known what was unfolding in the stable and being presented to the world, he would have found them a room. He would have slept in a tent and given them his own room. He was busy-busy-busy, working, not taking the time to really see what was happening around him. Jesus Christ was born in a stable very near to him, perhaps even in his own stable, and he missed it. However, a place was found for Mary to deliver the greatest gift ever wrapped for this world. It was a stable.

Can you relate? Can you think of Christmas’ when the message of Christ was so near, but you missed it? How often, like first-century Bethlehem, our lives get too busy and Jesus gets crowded out. If you haven’t noticed Him lately, perhaps it’s because you haven’t made room for Him in the overcrowded place called “schedule.” Make it happen and Jesus will show up. Have you allowed the intensity of the season, the schedule, the events, the presents to consume you so you haven’t noticed Jesus? If you’re distracted like the innkeeper, pay attention, God is nearby. The Lord comes to those who have room for Him. Yield your life to the direction and control of the Holy Spirit. Too often we desire to be used of the Lord but we either are too busy, or we make it inconvenient to be used of the Lord. D. L. Moody said, “I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled.” We must seize the opportunity to make room for Jesus to be used of Him.

Questions to Consider:
What opportunities to proclaim the Gospel will God put before you today . . . and will you seize the opportunity?
When I am busy with my day, am I looking for “God ordained moments” to share the Gospel?

Points to Ponder:
With every opportunity comes a decision-God's will or your will.
When you agree to serve God, be ready, He will use you in ways you never thought possible.

PRAYER: Father, thank You for Your wonderful gift of the Gospel. I’m humbled that You would ever consider using me to minister to others. Help me to make room for You, and for me to keep my eyes and ears open to Your leading to help share what has so impacted me. Give me the courage and the words to share with any person You direct me to meet. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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