Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

It had been a long journey. They were tired. They were hungry. Her back hurt. She took a sandal off as she sat on the donkey and rubbed her aching foot. That’s when she felt it. A strange pain seared like a flash of lightning in her womb. “Oh, I hope Joseph finds a place soon. This can not be good.”
He had been to nearly every inn in the area. This was high travel season. Everyone had come back to be enrolled. They had spent the day pressed in the dirty, smelly crowds of impatient people who were also looking for a place to stay. He glanced at Mary. She was holding her stomach. Her face twisted in pain for just a moment. She could feel his gaze. She looked up and tried to give her best smile. It was a weak attempt. He knocked on yet another door, as his temper began to flare.
The innkeeper opened the door. “I have been telling you people all day! We are packed. There is just no room! Stop banging on this door!” He was just about to shut the door, when his eyes met hers. A young girl on a donkey. She was pregnant and looked so tired. He thought he saw her eyes fill with pain for just a moment. No, he must be imagining things. She would find another place soon. What could he do anyway? The barn…not much of a place for a pregnant woman, but still….what if? He looked at the man who was pointing to his wife and begging for a place to stay. His heart softened. “Come here”, he whispered as he took Joseph aside. “What? What’s that you said!” Joseph yelled above the crowd. The innkeeper pulled him aside. “Hey, listen…I have this barn out back. Move quietly through the crowd. Make sure no one notices….I’m not in the habit of letting people sleep out there you know. I have a reputation to uphold. ” He gestured to the back of the inn.

Do you ever find that there is just no room?

There are so many searching.
Searching for the perfect gift.
Searching for a parking spot.

Searching for the right tree.
Searching for a place to stay.
Searching for that something.
Searching for that someone.

There is a void.
There is an emptiness.
They begin to knock.
Do you hear them?

It’s a busy season, so they get pushed aside. So many other things to attend to.
Cookies to make.
Presents to wrap.
Parties to attend.
Travel arrangements to be made.
Lights to be hung.
Christmas cards to be written.
Houses to be decorated.

Dinners to prepare.
Crowds press in around you.
The demands of the day press down on you.
“This will be the perfect Christmas you declare!”, as you head to the parking lot trying to remember where you parked.
Did you hear it? That knocking sound at the door of your heart. Was it squeezed out by the urgency of today? Have you prepared room for him in your heart? Have you halfheartedly given him a space out back? “I will get to Him when I can. There is just so much to do. I know he understands.”
Today God is waiting to birth something new in your heart.
My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
John 14:1-3

Advertisement