I have room for Jesus today do you?
There was no room in the Inn for Jesus to be born and his cradle became a manger. This lowly child was the divine child of God who came to save the world and live with the same temptations and struggles that we do so that he could fully understand our hurts. He cried when Lazarus died, from his own grief and seeing the pain of Martha and Mary. He knew that his death and resurrection had a larger purpose of glorifying God, but he felt the pain non the least. He had pressures of expectation from large groups of people. He got tired from travels, had to work through offenses with people and had to forgive, he was tempted and the list goes on. He knew exactly what he was on earth for and what was to come…the extent of the suffering that was coming…he surrendered and laid down his life because it was his Father’s will out of love for us, but he loved us too. He certainly cried out to his Father in case there was another way, he agonized over it to the point of sweating blood, in the end when this was the only way he proceeded knowing the results would be worth it. We were worth it to Him!
Christmas is the celebration of the Greatest Gift Ever!
Over time we have come to a place where we agonize over things like: are we going to have enough money to get all the gifts…hours of shopping, fighting the crowds, and waiting in long lines of impatient people…We try to work out all the various schedules to see both sides of the family and with divorce comes even more family to see…we travel and for some, very long hours or they try to with the snowy weather…We spend hours making last years lights work again or not , stringing them around the tree and the house until things are to our satisfaction… some people are the loneliest ever because family has passed or unforgiveness has separated them– and who they really need is Jesus to come and fill them up and restore them from the effects of their loss.
In the midst of the busy preparations, unreasonable expectations, effects of our stress and the list goes on we end up having no room for the Greatest gift of all! I have been to this place in the past where when all was said and done my thoughts were “this wasn’t a good Christmas at all. I am irritated, tired, just plain unhappy.”
Somewhere through time my Greatest Gift showed me what things to let go and how to simplify my schedule so I could focus on the things that really matter. Most importantly Him the reason for Christmas and celebrating the gift of eternal life, but also undistracted time with family to really have genuine heartfelt memories being made. Is my house decorated anymore? I have a basic 2-3 foot tree that is pretty and a snow globe of the nativity on my desk to daily remind me of my Greatest Gift and I am satisfied with that and not burnt out from hours of work I used to spend. Do I have enough money for gifts? With our current budget we don’t have a lot of money for gifts so the past few years I have taken my time and heart into making my gifts, so I am not beating the crowds or waiting in lines at all. Am I spending time with all the various families? You betcha and not only that I am not stressed or tired so that I can truly enjoy the time, laughter and great memories with them. Have I lost anyone? I have been fortunate in this area as I still have both my parents, but they are getting older and time is creeping to that stage in my life. I miss my Grandparents, but I know I am going to see them again and that includes one grandpa I never met. I am close with all my family and have lots of friends because I have learned the importance of forgiveness and the benefits that come from it…I have had rewards the were unconceivable in the human realm.
Do I have room for Jesus? How could it really be Christmas any other way.
Come back for when the holidays are over I will be sharing my moments with family and any poetry it inspires.
