stable – Fourth Day Adventures

I collect nativity sets. I love them and decorate all around the house with them. A few years back I started picking up pieces whenever we went to a foreign country. This started while traveling through the Middle East. I collected camels from each country to put in front of a nativity scene I had at home. Now I just look for nativity scenes or ornaments from each country. It is common for the country to have scenes with people who look like the natives of the country it is from.

Some have the stable made of wood and straw, others made of pottery. The real stable was probably a cave. In Bethlehem today, there is a church over the spot believed to be the birthplace of Jesus. They have placed marble over the soil and a star marks the spot.

But that night there was a rock for a roof above and dirt for a floor. The King of the Universe entered mankind in a setting fit for sheep and cattle. They laid his head where animals ate.

Due to the census being taken, the rooms at the Inn were full. There was no room for the Messiah that Israel so anxiously awaited. Do you ever think about the manager of that Inn? I have been trying to decide if he was a good guy who saw a pregnant woman and even though every thing was full he tried to find her a place with a roof over her head. Or was he a money grubber who was renting out every inch of property he had.

We think how sad. The Innkeeper put Jesus in the barn. He didn’t give him the best. That Innkeeper had no way of knowing the Lord of the Universe would be born that night. But we know he came into the world. He taught us right from wrong and how we should live. Then He allowed Himself to be crucified for our sins so we might be reconciled with God. We know he deserves the palace. So why do we so often give Him the left overs.

Prayer: Forgive me for not giving you my best, for squeezing you in.

Meditation: Do I just giving Christ the remains in regard to time, passions, money? Do I give Him the best or just the stable?

Action: Look at my Todo list each day. Give God that time when I am at my best.

Joseph and Mary left their village heading to Bethlehem to be counted in the census. The village of Bethlehem swelled with people in town for the census. Mary and Joseph arrive to find every place filled with people. The Inn Keeper had no rooms left. Everything was full. No rooms anywhere. The only place available was in the stable.

Luke 2 ⁷And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Today, a beautiful church sits over the cave which was once the stable. A star marks the spot where a hay trough once stood and where the baby was to be lain.

The Inn Keeper had no rooms except this stable. The bible doesn’t tell us, but it is interesting to thank about the person who sent Mary and Joseph to the stable to give birth. Have you thought about that Inn Keeper’s decision? I see two or three options here.

1. The manager of this place was out to make a buck putting people anywhere he could find. He cared nothing about the man, woman and baby needing a room. But he would make more money if he put people in the stable.

2. The city had people everywhere and getting the stable was special. He felt sorry for them. Mary being pregnant and all. He took time to find them the only place he could find.

I see one option being so similar to the person with a busy life that gives Jesus the small sliver of time left over in their lives. But the other person, the one trying to make room for Jesus, cares. He is trying to find Jesus a place in his life.

But neither one was really what the Lord of the Universe deserved. Neither is right. Yet it seems like all of us just give Jesus what is left over. Some people in a careless way never thinking about Jesus. The others making an effort to squeeze Him in.

Shouldn’t we be giving him our room. Saying I will give up my comfort or my favorite things for Jesus my Lord. We owe Him everything and most of us think we are remarkable if we let him stay in the stable.

Journal Exercise

Do you squeeze God in? Do you find him a place between all the other activities of your life?

Do you feel good about giving Jesus the equivalent of the stable in you life? You find him a place, but not the prime spot, not the best of your life. Do you treat Him like He is king or do you treat Him like the livestock?

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