“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Luke 2:6-7
Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem when Mary was due to have her baby, completely separated from all her family and supporting friends back in Nazareth. We are not told that anyone assisted Mary during labor, and that Mary wrapped the child herself points to a lonely birth. She took some strips of clothes to swaddle the baby and laid him in a manger.
I don´t know if the manger was in a cave or a stable, if it was attached to a house or in an open field. I don´t know if the manger was made out of wood or stone, or if there were animals inside at the time of Jesus´ birth. What I do know is this: Mary laid baby Jesus in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. There was no place for Jesus.
He was the Son of God. He could have chosen to be born in a palace, in a big comfortable house. But He chose to come to the world in the humblest way. He chose the uncomfortable, the smelly, the lonely.
How many times have I complained about little, silly things that make my life a little less comfortable? How many times have I put my own well-being ahead of the will of Jesus? How many times has there has not been room in my heart, in my life, in my schedule for Him?
Dear Lord, forgive me for putting my things above You and my relationship with You. Forgive me for closing my heart to You and having my priorities misplaced. Help me make room for You every day of my life. Amen.
Good article! I especially liked when you asked how many times has there not been room in my heart, etc. I have found it interesting at how many times we truly don’t have room for the real, true HIM. We only have room for our preconceived, comfortable version of Him. The one that doesn’t require us to step out of our comfort zones. The one that doesn’t really require anything of us. The one that says the only thing that matters is what’s in our hearts. The word ‘Christian’ means ‘Christ-like’, but how much like Jesus do we truly want to be? Did you know Jesus is a Jew? Scripture is pretty clear about that, huh? He could have been an Egyptian, an Amalekite, a Perizzite, a Hittite, a Jebusite, the list goes on. But He is a Jew. Do you think of the guys wearing the black suits & with pehs & wearing kippahs when you hear that? Do you think of not being able to turn on a light on Shabbat? Do you think of the various rituals like washing their hands or lighting Shabbat candles? Do you know that the Judaism in Scripture is vastly different from the Judaism we see today? Jesus was born a Jew, died a Jew, rose as a Jew, and ascended as a Jew. He kept Torah after He rose from the grave. If we truly had room in our hearts for Him, and if we truly wanted to be ‘Christ-like’, wouldn’t we be reading this passage of Scripture at the appropriate time of the year? Wouldn’t we choose the truth of Scripture over what our pastors are preaching from the pulpit? (Not casting blame, because they can only teach what somebody taught them.) Wouldn’t we choose the REAL Jesus instead of the one that has been invented for us? Maybe the better question would simply be, do we have room in our hearts for truth?
No to your questions. None of that matters at all. Time year, nationality, what’s been taught, etc. The only thing that matters is the God sent himself to earth in the form of Jesus. And he died for my sins. Then one day I was reborn, how? By the washing of the spirit when he saved my soul. You must have had an experience between you and the Holy Spirit. Where he washes you clean. Where he saves your soul and enters your heart. Where you have believed in Jesus with every part of you being! A time and a place where you were saved! That is what matters! Then you can try and study to the best of you ability the truths that are in the Bible! You may still be a sinner and you may never understand everything in the book but you can try. And by the Grace of God you can grow to be more like Jesus!
For me after reading this it made me realize how much I myself take for granit. Also how much that I let into my life and not realizing I’m putting in God spot. Thank you for sharing this to to me I now realize I need to do some soul cleaning and reavauate my heart and really get in touch with my LORD