DO YOU HAVE A ROOM FOR JESUS IN YOUR LIFE?

Source of image: Calvary.edu

Introduction

So soon we are at the end of the year and a new year is dawning. As the year beautifully and colourfully comes to an end, there is one thing very profound in ourselves, and that is God’s faithfulness. The Lord has preserved us by His mercies and kept us by His mighty power, and has generously provided for all our needs. For this reason, we have every worthy cause to offer to Him a Sacrifice of Praise.

I thank God for His generous goodness and extravagant kindness towards me and my family. A year ago, I started this blog and I thank God for His grace. More so, I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who visited this website, read, liked, commented and shared an article. I want to thank especially all those who have subscribed to my blog. I’m very much encouraged by your support. God richly bless you. 

As we blissfully and colourfully celebrate Christmas – the most wonderful time of the year, I would like to share with you a Christmas reading that captured my attention. This Scripture reading is taken from the Gospel of Luke. Luke 2:1-7. I’ve titled this message “Do You Have A Room For Jesus In Your Life?”

Luke 2:1-7 (NIV) 1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 

Verse 7 (NKJV): And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Time is Life 

We all have our lives to live. We independently and personally decide what to do with our lives. This life is given to us by God and it is given one day at a time. No one has two days at a time, that is impossible. We all have 24 hours everyday to live our lives. Life is measured in time, so we can say time is life. In fact, the basic unit of life is time. Time (consists of seconds, minutes, hours) translates into days, days translate into weeks, weeks translate into months and months translate into years.

God is so fair and just that He gives all people, no matter their geographical location position and situation in life, whether rich or poor, whether strong and weak, whether white or black or yellow or green the same amount of time for each day. We are the custodians of our time. We decide what we use our time for. We choose how and where we spend our time. We allocate space for things in our lives. We make room for things in our lives. We are the gatekeepers of our lives. We decide what comes, what stays and what leaves our lives. There are thousands of things competing for our time and seeking space in our lives everyday, but we are able to make room for only a few things. We can only make time for a certain number of things in a day. It is obvious that not everything that competes for our time can find space in our lives. The things we make room for in our lives are the things we regard as important. The truth is that the things we make room for or the things we give our time to speak volumes not only of our attitude, but also our priorities. And our priorities show what we live for. 

Everybody is Busy 

At some point everybody is busy, even children. We all get so busy. To be busy means to be full up. That is to say we have no space left for any other thing or person in our life.  The question is, is your life so full up that there is no room for Jesus in it? Is your time so occupied that Jesus has no space in it? Is the budget for your money completely full that there is no space for Jesus in it? What about your talents or skills, are they available for Jesus? 

I would like you to imagine the picture painted in verse 6 and 7 of our reading. Luke 2:6,7 (NIV) 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them (because there was no room for them in the inn). Just picture this statement, the time came for the baby to be born, BUT there was NO ROOM for them in the inn or there was no guest house available for them. In other words, Joseph and Mary were stranded at such a critical moment – Baby was coming, but no room for them, because every room was occupied. 

The question is, is your time and life so occupied that Jesus has no place in it? Is your life so busy with the things of this life that you’ve got no time or room for Jesus? How come we have time for everything, except for Jesus? How come we are able to make time for all things, except for the things of God? How come it is easy for us to make the time to play games, to have fun, to feast or party, to watch movies, to browse social media sites, but it is difficult for us to make time to read the Bible, to pray, to fast, to share the gospel, to serve and to attend the gathering of the saints? How come we struggle to make time for God? We try hard to squeeze God into our busy and tight schedules. There are people who only attend church services and worship or prayer meetings when they have nothing to do. For example, it is a Sunday morning or a time for church meeting and I get up and look at my calendar and say, “I’ve got nothing planned for today, let me go to church”.  That is the attitude of some people.

Beloved, do not get me wrong. I am not saying playing games, watching movies, having fun and the likes are wrong. No! This is what I’m saying. I’m talking about choosing what is profitable over what is good. I’m talking about choosing what builds up your spiritual life over what is good. This is what I’m saying, 1Corinthians 10:23, “All things are lawful (meaning: we are free to do anything we please), BUT all things are NOT profitable. All things are lawful, BUT NOT all things edify (build up your spiritual life) or bring growth.

Those things are good, nevertheless, they can become distractions that pull you away from God.  Let’s look at an example from Luke 10:38-42. One day Jesus was in the village of Bethany to visit His three friends – Lazarus, Mary and Martha. When Jesus entered the home of his friends, He began to teach. Then Mary sat down attentively before Jesus and listened as Jesus taught. Martha on the other hand busied herself with the preparation of the meal for their guests.

When Martha realised that her sister was with Jesus and she was left alone to do the cooking, she came to Jesus asking that Jesus should release Mary, so that she could help her. Then Jesus replied to her saying, “Martha, my beloved Martha, you’re too busy and worried about providing so many things and you are ​troubled and upset because Mary isn’t helping you. But know that only one thing is important. And Mary has made the right choice, and it will never be taken away from her.”

Here we learn one important lesson of life. Life is all about choices and we always choose what is important for us. How we live our lives is a matter of choices we make and what we make time for is a matter of what we consider important. The truth is that, in life there is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the important things.

God Desires a Place in Your Life 

God wants the best of your time, the best of your talent and the best of your money. The Lord desires a place in your life, have you room for Him? 

Revelations 3:20 (NIV) Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Jesus is saying I desire to come into your life. I desire to have fellowship with you. But I can’t force myself into your life, because you alone decide who and what comes into your life. Jesus is saying you’ve got a choice to make – a choice to open the door and let me in. Jesus is saying I’m willing to come into your life and have fellowship with you only if you open the door for me. Jesus is standing at the door and continues to knock, desiring to come in, but do you have room for Him? Are you like those innkeepers, or guest house owners who didn’t have a place for the Saviour?

I believe that if those innkeepers and guest house owners knew what event was taking place at that time in history, they would have even vacated their own rooms and given it to Mary and Joseph. If only they knew the gift of God that was coming into the world, they would not have turned Mary and Joseph away. If only they knew the kind of baby that was to be born, they would have given Mary and Joseph a special place. If only they knew that the baby that was to be born was the Son of God, the Saviour and a King, they would have given Mary and Joseph a special treatment.

John 4:10 (NIV) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Here is Jesus speaking with a Samaritan woman. And He is saying, if only you knew what God is offering you, your attitude would have been different. The opposite would have happened. You would have been the one asking the Saviour for the living water. Jesus is saying that if only you knew what God is offering you, or the blessing God is bringing into your life, you would have been the one making the initiative. 

Matthew 2:1 & 11 (NIV)

1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi a from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 

The Magi were not only wise men, but also kings. Here they were in Judea. And they went into the Palace, the Royal House and met Herod the King. And their question was “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 

WHY did they go into the palace of Herod? They went there because they assumed that if a king was to be born, he had to be born in a palace. These wise men saw the star of this newborn king and travelled all the way from the East to come and worship Him. These wise men might have travelled about 400 to 700 miles to be in Bethlehem. That journey would have taken them days and weeks on camels. 

WHY were they willing to leave all their official duties in their country and to travel all the way to Bethlehem? They saw a star just like any other person, but they knew what that star meant.  They KNEW the gift of God! They knew that a new King was born. 

It is rather unfortunate that the wise men could see the star of the newborn King from afar, but the innkeepers and the guest house owners could not see it even when it came to them and knocked at their doors.

Conclusion

Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink,…” Beloved if only we can recognise the gift of God (For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23) and who Jesus is, our attitude towards Him will change. We will be more than willing to make room for Him in our lives. 

“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink… I don’t know what the Lord is asking you for? Is it your time, your talent or your money? If only we knew the gift of God, we would be like the wise men from the East. We will make time to seek the Lord. And just like the wise men, we will make time to go and worship Him with our treasures, we will offer Him our gifts of time, talent and money.  

Beloved, if you should forget all that you read, just remember this statement:

In life there is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the important things. You will not have the time for everything, but you will always make the time and create room or space for what is important. Do you have the time, a room or place for Jesus in your life?

God bless you!