This past week I was re-reading the Christmas story as told in the book of Luke.  It’s something I do each December, even though the story is very familiar and one I could easily tell without even opening my Bible.  None the less, I read.  I try and read it with fresh eyes hoping that God will show me something new or different that I’ve not heard or understood before.  This year there were a couple of things that jumped out at me.

The first of those is the fact that He didn’t have to do it.  This is what I mean.  God did not have to send part of Himself to earth.  Jesus didn’t have to leave His rightful place in heaven to come to this earth as a baby.  Think about it for a minute.  The God of everything, the God who made everything decided He would come to this earth, and that He would do it as a baby.  Think about your childhood for a minute.  Being a baby is not a bad life.  I can’t honestly say I remember that part of my life but basically you sleep, eat and someone pretty much does everything for you.  Seems like a pretty good gig.  But when you come into this world as a baby, you grow.  There are so many things that you have to go through; learning to crawl, learning to walk, potty training, etc.. Next thing you know people no longer want to take care of you.  They want you to take care of yourself.  And what about those awkward pre-teen/teen years?  Who would willingly want to go through that?  I know that He was God, but scripture tells us that He was fully human as well.  If that is true, then even Jesus went through an awkward stage.  Think about it.  This is God we are talking about here, at any point and time, being all God He could have just decided nope, I’m done with this human stuff I’m going back.  But He didn’t.  He stuck with it, He stuck with us.  He stuck with us through the very end.  Through the torture, the abuse, the abandonment, all the way to death on the cross.  He didn’t have to do it, but He did!

The second thing that stood out to me as I read this was a short phrase from Luke 2:7 “because there was no room for them in the inn.”  No room.  No room.  No room.  Those two words, they just kept ringing over and over in my head.  From the very beginning there was no room for Jesus.  Not only did He leave His heavenly home to come here and save us, but when He got here there was no room for Him.  And that got me to thinking; has anything really changed?  Do we make room for Jesus?  Do I make room for Jesus?  In my life, in my work, in my family, in my finances, in my heart?

I confess there are many times, more than I’d care to admit honestly, when I don’t make room or leave room for Jesus in my life.  My days are filled with all the normal stuff:  laundry, grocery shopping, packing lunches, cooking dinner, all the mom stuff.  But then I add other stuff in, like working out, going for a run, watching TV, wasting WAY too much time on things like Facebook and Pinterest.  No one plans my days for me, I do that.  I could schedule more time for Jesus.  I could choose to put Him first every single day no matter how long “my to do” list is.  Sadly, there are many times when I just don’t.  I may sit down to have a quiet time, but my head and heart are not there.  I’ve already moved on to all my stuff-leaving no room for Jesus.

Here is my point – He didn’t have to do it, but He did.  The least I can do is make room for Him.  As we go through the remainder of this holiday season I am going to try really hard to plan my days, making sure that I make room for Jesus in every area of my life.  Will you join me?