Make Room for Christmas
[bl]D[/bl]o you feel him moving? Stirring inside of you? Stretching, pushing against you? His life growing larger and stronger, more complete…ready to be born? These are the days we are expecting. Waiting for Jesus who has come, is here, and will come again. This ever present, ever coming God is continually conceiving life in his people, expanding them, and delivering redemption in this world.
We are the stable, the humble human dwelling Jesus is born. Are you available? Do you have room for him to be born in you?
If not, then Christmas needs to begin with making room. In your heart. In your home. In your family. In your church. In your communities. Welcome Jesus to your broken world by showing him you have the capacity to receive him — physically, emotional and spiritual.
I have a Jesus welcoming friend who literally makes room for Christmas in her home by clearing out the old, making room for the new. Knowing that they will be receiving, her family takes the time to gather items they no longer need and donate them to a local charity to be given to those who might have need for them.
This image of making room for Christmas leads my heart to consider more ways we can actively welcome the coming Christ. Like the inn keeper, who received Jesus by giving him room to be born.
Open your doors. Invite people into your life and home this holiday season. God makes himself known through the fellowship of his people and their encounters with the world.
Say yes. When you feel prompted to share or give or invite or welcome, be obedient to those callings. Don’t push them aside until after the New Year. Listen to the promptings of the Spirit, and say yes to the places and people God puts before you.
Make room in your schedule. Don’t fill your days so full that you don’t have room for the Spirit to be spontaneous. For God to enter and take you somewhere different.
Carve out space in your evenings to gather as a family. To read his word, the stories surrounding his coming, the message that his birth brings. Consider how your family can welcome God.
Make room in your mind to hear God coming. Keep your lists on paper of the things you need to do and buy, so you can crumple the mental list, allowing more room for the Word to enter. Meditate on his truth, for it is truth that births new life.
Donate and give. Like my friend, commit to blessing others with what has been given to you. Go through closets and toy boxes, storage and supplies – finding items that might be used and appreciated by those who may not be receiving new things this year.
Fast. Make room for God to fill you. Spend time satisfying the hunger of your spirit, rather than the cravings of your flesh.
Focus on Jesus. As you celebrate with cultural traditions, make room for Jesus to be the center, the focus of the holiday that is all about him.
Confess. Speak the troubles of your heart. Surrender them to the Lord to make room for his grace to cover you.
Make room for Christmas, and discover the miracle of God’s life that is ever being born in us!
