Luke 2:7

And she gave birth to her firstborn Son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the Inn.
Luke 2:7

It is very early in the morning here in Tucson.  It's the first slightly chilly night we've had in a few weeks.  Even though it is very early and dark, there are still cars racing out and people still on the streets wandering and lights from the dingy motels blinking. 

I've heard sermons, read devotions, and sung songs about the irony of Jesus, no place at the Inn for Him and no place in our world for Him, all my life.  I remember singing the old hymn, "Have You Any Room for Jesus?", but reading the passage in Luke this week caused me to consider my heart and world more closely. 

My experience lately has been among an almost invisible population, the severely disabled, and for so many of them, the world doesn't welcome them in.  I think also about the elderly, orphans, prisoners, murderers, the poor, the foreigner, the outcast.  The world does not welcome them in very warmly or well.  Ride the bus number 16 in Tucson and you shall see that people don't always regard each other with much respect, but you already know this. 

What does our world welcome? I think our world welcomes greed, power, celebrity, appearances, high self esteem.  Our world welcomes pleasure and speed, novelty and competition.  Our world still does not welcome Jesus, and living in the world all the time it can be easy to lose sight of my goal to welcome Him fully into my life and abide with me as my true Companion.

I feel like this small little verse is such a powerful word on the focus of our heart.  Have I made room for Jesus to come, to dwell, to stay, to linger, to rest? Is He comfortable in my life? Is He enjoying the company? the food? the music? the reading? laughter? This Christmas season, I'm praying that my eyes open more to the ways in which I can make more room for Jesus.  I want Him to have a place in my life.