NO VACANCY
Below is a sample chapter from my new book, The Perfect Gift, published by Our Daily Bread. You can order it on Amazon, or click on the link at the end of the article.
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We were driving through Kansas around midnight with two small children. The hotels were filled in every town we passed through. Eventually, we spotted a sign flashing Vacancy. Approaching the office, I prayed the desk clerk hadn’t forgotten to turn on the No Vacancy sign. In retrospect, perhaps we should have kept driving.
When I turned on the lights in the room, cockroaches scattered. The door didn’t lock, which made me as nervous as a roadrunner on caffeine. The curtains were tattered, and the shower knob fell off in my hand. But we had reached the point of exhaustion and would have slept in a stable. I sympathized with Joseph and Mary—only their plight was much worse.
Joseph scrambled to find a room because Mary was about to deliver the Messiah. But all the neon signs in Bethlehem flashed No Vacancy. The biblical text simply reads, “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7, NKJV).
The innkeeper gets a bad rap in the Christmas story. We shake our heads, uttering, “Tsk, tsk.” How could anyone be so selfish as to turn away baby Jesus? (Although in his defense, the innkeeper didn’t know he was baby Jesus). He wasn’t a bad guy—just busy. Maybe he was stressed because of the census crowds cramming the streets. Maybe he couldn’t imagine stuffing one more body in his hotel. It’s easier to hang out a No Vacancy sign. Had the innkeeper known he sent the Messiah out into the cold, perhaps he would have given someone else the boot.
Really, the innkeeper is no different from us. Consider the time-worn cliché, “Make room in your heart for Jesus.” There’s a reason it’s a cliché. We’re busy people—trying to cram a hundred hours of commitments into a fifty-hour box. This is especially true during Christmas. Crowded malls, crowded halls, crowded roads, and crowded abodes. In the hectic hurry, how can we possibly find room for Jesus?
Christmas isn’t about gifts, parties, and food—although I love all these things. Remember the innkeeper. Remember another cliché: “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Don’t hang a No Vacancy sign over your life this Christmas.
Principle: Like the innkeeper, we often don’t have room for Jesus.
Ponder:
On a scale of one to ten, how busy is your life during the holidays?
During the hectic holiday rush, what creative ways can you find to make Jesus feel welcome in your heart?
Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Psalm 32:7-11
Lord Jesus, as I rush through my days, forgive me for leaving you out of my life, especially during the holidays. Forgive me for the times I make busyness an idol.
Taken from The Perfect Gift, Copyright © 2024 by Barney Cargile. Used by permission of Our Daily Bread Publishing®, P.O Box 3566, Grand Rapids, MI 49501. All rights reserved. Further distribution is prohibited without written permission from Our Daily Bread Publishing at permissionsdept@odb.org
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