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.
Luke 2:7 (NKJV)
As we have entered the season of Advent, a song that I heard about a month or so ago, came to my mind. We are so familiar with the Christmas story about Mary and Joseph being turned away from the inn, as there was no room for them. More on that in a moment...
So they needed to find a place where there was room for Jesus to be born. This song, Make Room, by the group I AM THEY talks about making room for Jesus in our lives and what that means for us as Christ-followers. It is a song of surrender, not something we normally think about at Christmas.
But what if God is asking us to think about making room for Jesus and what that looks like? It's easy to have warm feelings about making room - for the Baby Jesus. But when we contemplate what the coming of Jesus meant for us - the Savior of the world and of our lives - born to signify God with us, ultimately his birth led to his death and then his resurrection. Have we made room for him to work in and through our lives?
I distinctly remember the John W. Peterson musical (published in 1963), Night of Miracles, and the song that stuck in my mind was No Room. Perhaps some of you have heard this before?
I wonder what would have happened if Mary and Joseph had reservations and actually had a room at the inn. Would we have viewed his birth differently? As Advent is upon us - are we making room for new insights and new experiences of what Christmas means to us?
Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts about "making room" for Jesus.
Opening Photo by Walter Chávez on Unsplash
