If there’s no room
for Jesus in your holiday season, it wouldn’t be the first time there was no room for Jesus. The first time He
came there was no room for Him. In the Gospel of Luke it states, “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).
Theologically this speaks of the incarnation of Jesus. It
speaks of the humiliation of Jesus. And it speaks of the providential workings
of God to carry out His redemptive plan in Christ. But there are other down to
earth revelations intertwined in the incarnation of Christ. They speak to our
present state of affairs; especially this year.
God’s ways are not our ways. God works in
ways that we don’t readily understand. His ways are not our ways (Isaiah
55:7-11). In Romans 12:2 it tells us not to be conformed to the world. A reason
for this is that God regularly works in ways that the world and even in the
religious community can not relate to. The ways of God are nonconformist and
unorthodox by secular and religious standards. Who would have thought that a
single Teacher with an inner core of 12 rag tag disciples would turn out to be not
only God in the flesh but the Savior of the world? Who would have thought the Savior of the
world, God in the flesh, would be born in a stable because there was no other
place for his mother to birth? Who would have thought this child would be the
way the truth and the life and the only way to eternal life with God? God’s
ways are not our ways.
Our plan can be
opposed to His plan. God’s ways are
not our ways. God’s plans may keep us from things we think are best for us. But
God’s plan is always the best plan. He has only the best of intentions for us.
If He says, “No,” to a request of ours, it is only because He has something
infinitely and eternally better for us. We are limited and finite in
understanding. He is infinite and all knowing. It’s always best to trust the
LORD; even when we don’t understand.
God is able to accomplish His will even when all seems
lost. Mrs. A. E. Gadsby of Niagara Falls, Canada, in December 1940 mailed a
Christmas parcel to her daughter in Prestwick, Scotland. The ship carrying the
mail was torpedoed off the west coast of Ireland. All seemed lost in terms of
that letter ever reaching its destination. But a favorable tide floated the
package unerringly ashore on the beach
of Prestwick. The contents were soaked but perfectly usable. The address was
still legible and the package reached the addressee two days after Christmas. God
has a plan and He will work it out come hell or high water (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
Hope in Him (Psalm 42).
God incorporates human free will in His plans. Human
free will does not take God by surprise. But it does make for an interesting
journey in God’s plans. Because of human free will Joseph in Old Testament times
was sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned, forgotten for a time,
exalted to the second in command in the Egyptian empire and ultimately used by
God with all of his hardship, for God’s good purposes to preserve the Messianic
line (Genesis 50:20). Because of human free will there was an innkeeper who had
no room for Jesus. Because of human free will Jesus was betrayed by one of his
closest and most trusted disciples. Yet God used all of this to bring salvation
to the world through His Son. God uses human free will and because of that we
can’t always see His plan. God unfolds His plan bit by bit. As we follow His
lead we begin to see. Sometimes the full plan won’t be seen until glory.
Through it all, no matter what, the best plan is to, trust in God, hope in God,
love the Lord and let Him bring to pass His good plan (Romans 8:28).
Obstacles don’t necessarily mean we are out of God’s
will. What if Joseph and Mary said, “Okay, there’s no room here for us
to have the baby, let’s go to the next town”? If they had done that Jesus would
not have been born in Bethlehem according to Messianic prophecy (Micah 5:2) and
He would have been disqualified as Messiah. But they trusted in the Lord and
made due with what God provided. There is no record of any complaints on their
part. There is only a record of humble submission. Christmas is a time
notorious for combustible complaints. God’s word tells us to “do all things
without complaining and disputing” (Philippians 2:14). Maybe we should take
action so that there’s room for Jesus but no room for bad Christmas attitudes.
When we encounter obstacles we should follow the
leading of the Spirit. Mary and Joseph were humble enough to follow the
Spirit. They didn’t come to Bethlehem expecting to have Mary give birth in a
stable. But that is where the Spirit led them and that is where they went. The Spirit will
never lead in a way that is contrary to God’s word. In fact the Spirit most
often leads us by the word of God (Romans 8:14). We discover God’s will by
giving ourselves to Him as living sacrifices. To discover His will we have to surrender
ourselves and our own agendas to Him and His will (Romans 12:1-2).
There is an enemy who wants to shut Jesus out. The
devil wants to destroy Jesus and all who love Him. We see this in the slaughter
of the innocents ordered by Herod (Matthew 2:16-18). Herod and many other
people in history have been enemies of Jesus and His people. But the ultimate
enemy of Jesus is Satan. Of Satan it is stated: “Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour.9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same
sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Jesus came to destroy the works of Satan (Hebrews 2:14; 1
John 3:8). We have an enemy and he seeks to distract, deceive and destroy
everything connected with Jesus. We have seen our own version of the slaughter
of innocents recently. The enemies’ objective is to make sure there is no room
for Jesus in your life. He is ruthless and merciless in this effort. Don’t let
him succeed! Make a conscious effort to have meaningful devotional times with
the Lord each day during this time of year. This will help you make room for
Jesus each day. Cultivate spiritual sensitivity to how Jesus might want to use
you to help others make room for Him.
Not everyone has room for Jesus. Jesus states,
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone
hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and
he with Me.” (Rev.
3:20). Jesus especially knocks on the door of the church seeking to come
in and fellowship. But not everyone has room for Jesus. Some have their own
petty ideas or agenda to follow. Some are too angry to let Him in. Others are
too proud and busy worshipping themselves to let Christ in. And still others
want to rule on the throne rather than have Jesus be Lord. When Jesus knocks,
open to Him. He is the reason for the season. Don’t forget that. Don’t be
cheated out of the presence of Jesus this Christmas (Colossians 2:8, 23).
Do you have room for Jesus this Christmas? Jesus
is knocking on the door of your heart right now. You may have never paid
attention to His knocking but now He is getting your attention. Will you open
the door of your heart and invite Him in? Admit you have sinned against
God’s holy law and deserve eternal damnation (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Acknowledge
that Jesus died for your sins upon the cross; He died in your place on the
cross; He paid the penalty you deserved for your sins on the cross. Ask
by faith God to forgive you of your sin based on your accepting what
Jesus has done for you on the cross (Romans 6:23; 5:8). Advance in the Spirit (who is now in
you) and depend on God to help you bear spiritual fruit and live for Jesus.
We can learn a lot from that short verse in the gospel of
Luke. But the thing we need to consider is do we have room for Jesus in our lives, in all
of our lives? Have you room for Jesus? That’s the question before us
right now. Have a meaningful Christmas and make room for Jesus!
No comments:
Post a Comment