December 18 - Making Room For Jesus

Making Room For Jesus

Ron Mehl, author and pastor, who was a mentor during my days in Beaverton, Oregon, shared a wonderful article about Christmas that I thought I would pass along.  He wrote:

It is hard to imagine the world without Christ.  That’s because most of us have grown up in a Christian environment.  I think the best way to comprehend it would be to look at the period of time after Jesus had gone to the cross, then to the grave, then out of the grave in resurrection.  And Paul, trying to explain the importance of that to those who would read his letter to the Corinthians, posed a similar question in 1 Corinthians 15.  He said, in effect, “Let me tell you what life would be like if Jesus had not come, if we had made no room for Him.  If He had not died, if He had not been resurrected from the grave.”  Try to imagine, the world without Jesus, a life without Christ, and Christmas without Christ.  Making room for Jesus is the message of Christmas.

Someone sent me a Christmas story about shy, chubby Harold.  It was the night of the school Christmas play.  All was going as planned, until it was shy, chubby Harold’s turn to speak.  He was bigger than all the other kids and had only one line to say.  He played the part of the innkeeper who was to say to Joseph and Mary, “We don’t have any more room,” and then turned them away.

He’d “performed” just fine during all the rehearsals but, now, as he looked into Joseph’s weary face and watched Mary, heavy with child…he just couldn’t let them go.  In a moment of compassion, he flung open the inn door again, saying, “Wait…you can have my room!”  And of course, with that, brought down the house.

For me, the memories of Christmas range from standing up in my bed (crib), worried sick that Santa might never make it through the vicious Minnesota blizzard; yet more importantly, how would he make it to our house?  I remember our little home, the simple tree, and, of course, the gifts.  We’d get two presents a year and I can recall virtually every one of them…from my first basketball to an army set, from my Bible to a machine gun.  That certainly runs the gamut, but that’s what I remember.

I want you to know chubby Harold isn’t the only one to experience first-hand what it must be like to make room for Jesus our King.  Memories of Christmas require both time and expense.  I watched one young couple re-design their home for one reason:  they were expecting.  Can you believe it?  I can.  Because, while memories are wonderful, remember: to gain something, you might have to give up something.

This Christmas, I’m believing for memories…memories that, this year, we made room for Jesus in ways we’ve never done before…memories that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, lives at our house.  That’s a gift you’ll never forget.

Written by Ron Mehl (Author of God Works The Nightshift and Love Found A Way)

Consider reading the Word today: