Got Room?

So Christmas has come and gone; a brand new year is here. Do you know what I love to do this time of year? DONATE! That’s right, I love to go through my house and gather all the items that I have been meaning to donate in the past 12 months and take them down to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. This is fun for a few reasons. First: the aforementioned businesses take my stuff and use it to fund helping others. Second: our family gets a tax deduction. Third: I have more room in my house.  I have learned that no matter how big (or small) your house is, you only have so much room! Life is like that too – there are only so many hours in a day and only so much room in our lives…so what we choose to make room for matters.

Christmas 2012 is barely in our rear view mirrors and 2013 has come, and we will undoubtedly find that 2013, just like 2012, has only so many days, only so much room. What will we decide to fill it with? With the Christmas story fresh on our minds, we sometimes think about the innkeeper in Bethlehem over 2000 years past. Remember Joseph and Mary came to his door, in need of a place to rest their weary heads (and birth the Savior of the world!) and he turned them away because his inn was too full.  We shake our heads in unbelief at his foolishness. But let’s take a closer look at how he may have made his infamous decision to turn them away. Remember, these other people had gotten their first, maybe they had even sent word ahead of time (which was as close as there was to making a reservation back then). Second, these others were paying guests, so they were bringing in income (which was the reason he was in business). Third, the poor guy had no idea that the one true Savior was right before him on that cold and clear night. Fourth: He only had so much room!

We tell ourselves that we would have done better, made room, but is that really the case? What about our lives today – how much room is there for Jesus? Has He been given a place of honor or has He been relegated to a make-shift barn in the backyard of our lives. Do we place more importance on the people and things that are already in our lives, than our Savior? Are we too preoccupied with jobs that provide income, than about giving ourselves completely to the One who came to give us eternal life? Where does Jesus fit in the scheme of things in the “site plan” of our lives? Is there any room for Him?

Cleaning out our closets is a worthy way to help ourselves and others at the same time, but perhaps we need to take a hard look at where we need to make room for Jesus and the life-giving joy His presence brings. Perhaps some things need to be removed from their place of preeminence and moved to a lesser spot. Making room, that’s what this devotional is about, finding room, no matter what needs to be put on a “back-burner”, to carve out a spacious area for Him to move into our lives.

I knew Papa was speaking to my heart about making more room, but I wasn’t sure exactly what He meant, until a shopping trip a few weeks ago. It was the height of the Christmas shopping season, where people are beginning to feel a tad frustrated and even a little desperate to finish their holiday purchases, and I was out there with the rest of the harried shoppers when I found myself in a nearly impossible situation. The traffic was backed up to enormous proportions and only a few people were getting out on the main thoroughfare, and I was stuck on a side street with no hope of ever getting out. I saw the hopelessness of my situation, but was powerless to change it. Then it happened, someone decided to let me out, which meant that they would miss their turn at the light.

I was so blessed by this tiny sacrifice and it gave me thought about how my Papa saw the hopelessness of our situation and how we were powerless to change it. Because he loved us, He sent His only Son to die in our place. He gave His life as a sacrifice for me, for you, for all mankind. In other words, He made room for us! He was busy running the universe, dealing with all the multitudes of existing populations and yet He made room for us! We hadn’t gotten there first, hadn’t made a reservation and we certainly weren’t bringing Him anything of worth, but He stepped down from the glories of Heaven into a world that didn’t value Him and yet He came! The Creator was devalued and rejected by His creation and yet He made room for us in His life. The Giver of life was born in a stable and His birth went unnoticed by most of those around Him.

What about us? I know it takes effort to make room in our lives. It could mean cleaning out space by moving some prominent things in our lives and putting them in smaller places or just donating them to help others. It may mean not giving the best of who we are to the things in our lives that “got there first” or the jobs that bring us income so we can make room for the presence of Christ to bring the transformation we so desperately need.

I’m not sure what this process of making room will look like in your life (or mine for that matter), but Jesus does. He knows His place and rank in our lives right now and where He needs to be in a larger and more prominent place or role – we just need to let Him guide us in what needs to be moved or donated and purpose in our heart…to make room!

We are at the dawn of 2013, let us lay aside the things that are taking up unneeded room in our lives, giving Christ the room to move, speak and act freely! Blessings and new adventures lie waiting, unopened, not yet experienced and ALL pass through His loving hands! 2013 is now upon us…got room?

 Sweetest blessings,

Sandy