I have heard a number sermons focused on the Inn Keeper and how he did not have room for Jesus. The pastor would then close with a comment along the lines of
“will you be like the inn-keeper and not have room for Jesus in your heart”
If you have spent any time reading my posts or talking with me, you know I strive to look at thigs from different perspectives. And this event is no different.
Here is how the story unfolds in Luke 2:3-7 (The Living Bible)
Everyone was required to return to his ancestral home for this registration. And because Joseph was a member of the royal line, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, King David’s ancient home—journeying there from the Galilean village of Nazareth. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was obviously pregnant by this time. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born; and she gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him in a blanket[a] and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn.
The town was filled with people from all over. Joseph didn’t have access to the latest app so he could make reservations, and pregnant Mary on a donkey did not allow for moving quickly. When they finally arrived, well behind many others, all rooms were filled.
The inn-keeper DID NOT turn them away. He could have. An easy answer would have been ‘no vacancy, go away.’
Instead he offered them an alternative.
With no room in the abode, he offered a place in the barn. It certainly was not a 4-star option but a place that was warm, private, and available.
We often get emotionally attached to a situation we only see a small portion of the big picture. It is important to take a deep breath, step back, and re-evaluate. There is an entire jigsaw picture happening. And in the circumstance we see just the one or two pieces within our grasp.
The inn-keeper made room for them after all.
My question to you, then, would be, will you make room for Jesus in your life?