P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

NO ROOM IN THE INN

It’s nearing sunset on a blazing hot summer evening in southern Nevada. A young couple drive into Las Vegas from the north in their ancient car in search of a place to stay. Even as darkness settles in, the temperature sign still reads well over 100 degrees. The battered old car has no air conditioning, and the two are thirsty, hungry, and weary after driving for hours through the desert.

But as they drive through the city, every hotel and motel sign reads “No Vacancy.” They don’t even bother to check the lavish hotels on the Strip. They could never afford the luxurious rooms of the Bellagio, the MGM Grand, the Mirage, or the Mandalay Bay. But as they drive south out of town, they find that even the smaller, older motels are full. Finally, some distance south of the city limits, they come to a humble, ramshackle motel with only a few rooms.

The young man gets out of the car to see if any rooms are left, but is almost devastated to learn that even this lodging of last resort is full. But the owner says that if they don’t mind the surroundings, they can stay the night in the nearby barn on his property.

So it is that during that night, the young woman gives birth to a baby son—a little boy who will someday grow up to become a man who runs for national office and becomes the President of the United States.

Can you even imagine something like this ever happening? But then, you already know that something like this already has happened. Not in our time in southern Nevada. But over 2,000 years ago in the Middle Eastern town of Bethlehem. And the child born that long-ago night was no king or president of a country on earth. He was the King of all kings—the Creator of the universe—Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of man.

If the best lodging in Bethlehem had featured a royal or presidential suite, surely the King of the Universe should have been born there. But no, He was born instead surrounded by farm animals, with only hay for a bed. Luke chapter 2 and verse 7, speaking of Mary the Mother of Jesus, says that “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.” (NKJV)
No room for Jesus? No room for the Creator and King of the universe? How utterly unimaginable!

This week we’ve been considering the Five Best Christmas Gifts, as found in the Bible story of the very first Christmas—the New Testament gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus as recorded by Matthew and Luke. We’ve looked already at four of those five gifts: the gift of peace, the gift of a God who is with us, the gift of a Saviour, and the gift of a personal Lord and Master. All of these are gifts God has given to us in Jesus.

But today’s fifth and final gift is not like any of the others. For this is not a gift God gives to us but rather one that we give to Him. And the truth is that it’s the only gift God really wants from us this Christmas—and the only gift we have to give Him.

If you were as wealthy as Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, could you make God richer by giving part—or even all—of your wealth to Him? No—not when it all belongs to God anyway. As He said through His prophet in Haggai 2, verse 8: “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (NKJV)

If you were the most prosperous rancher on the planet, could you increase God’s wealth by giving Him all your livestock? No, not when it already belongs to Him anyway. As God said in Psalm 50, verses 10 and 11: “For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.” (NKJV)

God doesn’t want or need more gold, more silver, more diamonds, more land, more money, or more possessions. He already owns everything, even if we human beings mistakenly think we do. The Bible makes clear that we are simply stewards, or managers, of what belongs to God.
I’d like to suggest that this Christmas, God doesn’t want a single thing you have. What He wants more than anything from you is what He needed the day He was born here on earth: He wants a room in the inn.

Let me share with you what this means. Each of us—you, me, everyone alive—has a room inside us—a place meant for God. We are each like a one-room inn. And the Bible says there’s a door to that room—a door where Jesus stands and knocks. Here’s how Jesus describes it in Revelation 3, verse 20: “Behold,” He says, “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.” (NKJV)
So the only question this Christmas is whether we will answer the knock at the door and invite Jesus into our hearts and lives.

Friend, is there room in your inn for Jesus?

Over thirty years ago now, singer/songwriter Harry Chapin wrote and sang a song that captured all too accurately how parents often fail to give their children the one gift they most want and need.

“The Cat and the Cradle” told the story of a father too busy to spend time with his young son. The father gave the little boy plenty of things—even one time, a new baseball. But when the lad wanted his dad to spend time playing ball together, the father begged off, saying that right now, he was too busy, but that later, they’d have a good time.

But later never came. And the years raced by. The young son grew up and had a family of his own. Now the tables turned, as the father, now retired, finally wanted to spend time with his grown son. And in a telling stanza, the song tells, in the father’s words, the results of his request:

“I’ve long since retired and my son’s moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, ‘I’d like to see you if you don't mind.’
He said, ‘I’d love to, Dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job’s a hassle, and the kid’s got the flu,
But it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad.
It’s sure been nice talking to you.’
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He’d grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.”

Do you see, friend? Jesus wants to come into your life and spend time with you! He wants to share life with you. He wants the two of you to get better acquainted. He wants to be on the inside of your life—not standing on the outside. Is there room in your inn?

There are many reasons that we keep Jesus standing outside—many reasons why we banish Him to the barn even while there’s vacancy in the inn.

Sometimes, as in Harry Chapin’s song, our lives just seem too busy. We have jobs and classes and bills and To-Do lists; we have shopping and phone calls and social events and medical appointments. We have vacations and business trips and homework and repairs to make around the house. We go and do and run and push till we’re exhausted. There’s simply no more room in our inn. No room in our lives.

Sometimes, too, we keep Jesus on the outside because we aren’t sure what it might truly mean if we were to invite Him in. Would He insist that we give up some of the things we enjoy, yet suspect aren’t good for us? Would He demand that we change things we aren’t sure we’re ready to change? What would really happen to our jobs, our relationships, our life goals, if Jesus came in and had His way in our lives?

May I suggest to you that without exception, no one who has ever invited Jesus to come into their innermost lives has ever regretted that choice?

On Internet sites like Amazon.com, many people these days create wish lists for gifts they’d like to receive. Jesus has just one item on His Christmas wish list. At His birth, there was no room for Him in the inn. But He still seeks a room—a place in your heart and life. He stands at the door of your heart and knocks, waiting to be invited in.

What you may not realize is that Jesus doesn’t seek to come into your life to force changes on you. He simply wants to be included in your life. He wants to share companionship and friendship. He wants to be with you, and for you, through whatever joys or trials you encounter.

What you also may not realize is that when Jesus comes in, He brings gifts with Him not just for Christmas, but gifts that are yours every day of the year. Peace, joy, forgiveness, wisdom, guidance, protection, strength, and love—to name only a few.

Do you hear what I’m hearing? It’s a steady knocking at the door. And you know Who is standing there. Will He find room in your inn this Christmas?

I hope you’ve been as blessed as I have this week as we’ve looked at the Bible’s “Five Best Christmas Gifts.” This is Lonnie Melashenko, reminding you that it’s always true—God loves you!

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