“MAKING ROOM FOR JESUS IN THE BARN AND EVERYWHERE ELSE”
“She [i.e., Mary] gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.” (Luke 2:7, New Living Translation)
Jesus was born in a barn. That always strikes me as significant. I grew up on a farm, and I can say this with no hesitation: Barns are not pleasant, sanitary places.
It is comforting that the savior of the world was born in a barn. He was humble from the get-go, and was willing to hang around the nasty places. I have quite a few nasty places in my own heart and mind. You?
However, the problem is that I tend to make room for Jesus only in my nasty places. I invite Jesus into my barn—my problems and sins—and only reluctantly even there. I only trust God when my back is against the wall and all other alternatives have been exhausted.
What would happen if I gave Jesus a better reception? What if I gave him permission to roam through the whole of me? What if I invited Jesus into my decisions before I made them, into my actions, into my feelings, into my everyday, routine life?
Don’t get me wrong. It is a wonderful thing to think of God dwelling in our messiness. But maybe, just maybe, God wants to do that and be intimately involved with our pre-messiness as well. Perhaps if we allowed God in Christ to rule our entire beings, our lives might be less “barnish,” and more of a pleasant place for everyone (including ourselves) to dwell in.
Recent Comments