Then Mary gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough – because there was no room for them at the lodging place. Luke 2:7
My words…
A Christmas Prayer
Two grammatical clauses. The first prosaically describes Your arrival – the unblemished lamb, the mighty lion, the only begotten, – freely departing the dazzling radiance of heaven and the precious union with Your Father to wear human skin to cover the veins that held the necessary ounces of blood needed to save me. Boundless joy!
But the second clause takes my joy and drapes it with sadness. There was no room for You. No room! The earth is a rather spacious planet, but You, Father, chose to send Jesus to a place and time where He would not fit. Of course You did! How can the Creator fit within His created? Just as You did not fit inside a crowded Bethlehem lodge, so Your message of unconditional love, equality, justice, and salvation did not fit the preconceived ideas of the stubborn tribal nation to which You were born. There just wasn’t enough room for that too-good-to-be-true message.
I ponder Your unfathomable traits: You were not created (You have always been). You are all in all, the beginning and end. But there is one place I know where You fit perfectly. Yep. My heart. I’ve made room for You there.
