12 Days of Christmas

The Thang: 12 days of Christmas countdown…. 1st set: Day 1; 2nd Set: Days 2 and 1; 3rd set: Days 3,2,1; etc.

Inspiration: “Make Room” in your heart this season. Listen to the song “Make Room” by Casting Crowns and think about the life of the innkeeper. The song was written based on this story and the realization the writer had below.

I remember thinking that the innkeeper was the villain. He was a bad guy and should’ve been wearing a black hat because he was the guy who shut down Jesus. Jesus came to Earth to save the whole world, and this guy puts him in a barn. That makes all of us feel better about ourselves because we’re not the innkeeper. We make ourselves believe we’d never turn away God if he came to Earth.

Not until years later, after I’d grown in my faith, did I realize the innkeeper in Bethlehem wasn’t a bad guy. He was just a guy. He was just a guy getting through his week. He had a million things going on, and when Joseph and Mary knocked on his door, he was just really busy.

I recently told a pastor this very story behind my song, “Make Room.” He listened and smiled. “You know,” he said, “The innkeeper gave him a place. He just didn’t give him the place.”

The more years I spend with the innkeeper in this gospel story, the more I see he’s a little more like me than I’d like to think he is. He’s more like all of us. As you go through this Christmas season, how willing are you to stop and make room for Jesus? How willing are you to give him not just a place, but the place?