Make Room for Him

and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Luke 2:7

I remember when I was travelling to Canada from Nigeria in 2022. My wife was heavily pregnant with our second son. Everywhere we turned, once they saw my wife, they gave us priority and in some cases just waived some protocols. I remember arriving at the boarding area with her in a wheelchair and although the queue was so long, we just walked right beside everybody to the front of the immigration officers and in minutes we were released without too many questions. Why? Because humanity dictates that when a woman is pregnant, she’s a vulnerable person in need of as much attention and assistance as she can get. With this background in mind, I’m a little curious how wicked the people in the days of Jesus might have been to think it was okay for a woman to give birth in a manger, because there was no space in the room area. 

The scarcity of rooms in the city at this time of the year is very understandable. Following the decree of Caesar Augustus, for a census “everyone went to their own town to register”.(Luke 2:3). It’s almost the same scarcity of rooms and every other form of scarcity we witness every year in December when people get into the mood of celebration. It is simply a demand and supply problem or so we thought. The truth is that this event connotes the spiritual state of the people and its attendant inhumane nature. 

Think about it for a minute, if the emperor had arrived at the scene right in the midst of the scarcity of accommodation, would he have passed the night in the open field? Never! A room will be created for him by any means using every available resource even if it means ejecting a paying customer and paying him double as compensation. How is it that the king of kings was never afforded a similar honour? Because their eyes were withdrawn from seeing him for who he is. 

When people make excuses for not accommodating God or the things of God today, we can see a similar problem, they really do not know the lord. If they think it’s ok to come late to church no matter how genuine their excuse may be, then they really do not mean what they say when they say they were coming to meet with the Lord. If they would jump at any opportunity to pay for their manager’s daughter’s birthday but not enough for offering in church, then you know where they really belong. 

Like in the days of his earthly ministry, not a lot of people have made room for Jesus in their heart today too. The question is whether or not you will make that room for him today.

PRAYER