Sunday December 19, 2021
No Vacancy
You know, of all the characters in the Christmas nativity, the inn keeper is one we rarely talk about. He does get a passing mention in the narrative, but generally speaking, we really don’t bring any feel-good Christmas messages about him. Why is that?
The picture of the inn keeper and his rejection of the baby represent Christ coming with infinite light and grace to those He loved, and to His own people, only to be rejected by them and turned away from their doors. This was one of the saddest things about the Savior’s mission to this world. He was the God of glory and of life. He came to bring heaven to earth, but when He stood at men’s doors and knocked, the doors were kept closed upon Him, and He had to turn and go away again, bearing back in His hands the precious gifts and blessings He had brought and wished to leave. (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of people)
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. (Jn.1:11)
We say the Jews, “His own,” were very ungrateful to treat their Messiah in this way. But how is it with us? Christ comes to us. He is continually coming. His hands are full of blessings. He has eternal life to bestow. Do we receive Him? Is it not true of us that He comes unto His own, and His own receive Him not?
There is great danger in rejecting the Light that God has given to all of mankind, but a great blessing comes to those who receive it. There is so much darkness in this world in which we live…and it’s growing darker every day. If we reject the Light, how will God be the Light? The spiritual illumination of God is perfected through us, the receivers of that Light!
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. (Jn.3:18-21)
I want to open the door of my life to Jesus Christ this year…completely. Too many times, believers live double lives. There is our natural life that includes our job, home, social life, family and friends. Then there is our walk with Christ. To follow Jesus Christ means opening the door to my physical life to the Lord and eliminating the separation. We must make room for Him there.
This year my prayer is that God will help me to recognize those things that are getting in the way of total surrender of my life with my walk with Jesus Christ. God moves by certain principles and if we understand the principles of God, we can walk with God. But we cannot walk with God by our own principles, by our own plans. We must walk by His principles and by His plans. So then, God has brought us to a certain place. You may think it is circumstances that have brought you there, but it is the hand of God.
So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. (Col.1:9-10 NLT)
So, let’s not be like the inn keeper who put up the “no vacancy” sign. Let’s be Mary or Joseph…the shepherds, the wise men…Simeon and Anna….and all the others throughout history that have come to the manger and accepted the gift of the newborn King! Amen.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Rev.3:20-21)
Open your door for Him…the reward is amazing!!
