Crowded Inn and Crowded Hearts
It's easy to let other things interfere with the One we need most. by Bob Hostetler
Pity the poor innkeeper. This character involved in the birth of Christ has received a lot of bad press in the past two thousand years. He's not given so much as a walk-on part, not even a cameo appearance in the Bible story of the nativity. His name was not even recorded by Luke the historian, which may be just as well. If the innkeeper's name were known, it would probably be paired with Ebenezer Scrooge year after year. But was Jesus born in a stable because the innkeeper was unsympathetic to the pregnant Mary and the road-weary Joseph? The story does not say. Luke records only that "there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7, NIV). Perhaps we should give the innkeeper a break. He probably did the best he could under the circumstances. The King who was to be born that night was simply crowded out by other guests, other concerns, and other demands that came first.
No vacancy And so it is today. We exclude Jesus from our lives not because we're unsympathetic to His claims. He is crowded out of our daily routines not because we don't believe in Him. He is missing from our calendars not because we think we don't need Him. No, it is as simple and straightforward a matter with us as it was with the Bethlehem innkeeper: There is no room. But as preacher Charles Spurgeon once said, "My Master wants room!" Unlike the innkeeper, we already know that little baby in Bethlehem was indeed God made flesh: Christ our Lord. And we still hesitate to find room for Him.
Open door Have you room? Just as He did on the occasion of His birth, your Master wants room. "But I cannot find room," you may protest. "I don't know how I shall make room." Never mind. You need only swing the door open, and He will enter. His glorious coming to your heart and life will occupy all your emptiness and purposelessness and flood it with His gracious forgiveness, love, and purpose. Simply breathe a simple prayer of invitation, asking Him to enter. |
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A Ministry of the General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh Day) © 2010
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Bob Hostetler is a writer, editor, and speaker from southwestern Ohio. His thirteen books, which include They Call Me A.W.O.L. and Holy Moses (and Other Adventures in Vertical Living), have sold over 1.7 million copies. He has co-authored eight books with Josh McDowell, including the best-selling Right from Wrong (What You Need to Know to Help Youth Make Right Choices) and the award-winning Don't Check Your Brains at the Door. Most of his books are available on http://www.amazon.com. A complete listing is available at http://www.bobhostetler.com/ biography/books.html#written, and links to some of them via Amazon.com is available at http://www.bobhostetler .com/bookstore/index.html.
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Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked New King James Version taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.