A Question of Vacancy

"Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus." -Neal A. Maxwell

This time of year, the story of Jesus Christ seems to get more attention than it does throughout the year. Families all over the world here the story of the birth of Jesus, beginning with the census all the way to the wise men and everything in between. Most everyone is familiar with the story of the innkeeper and how he told Mary and Joseph there was no room in the inn. So now we have turned this story outward, and each of us now decides if there is room for Jesus. But that isn't how it really works.

Each of us does not decide if there is room for Jesus. There IS room for Jesus. In fact, Blaise Pascal said, "There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus." A vacancy in the heart is not optional or dependent upon anything. Each of us has a God-shaped hole inside of us. Our role then is not to decide if there is room for Jesus, but to boldly proclaim that there IS room for Jesus in every heart and in every place, and nothing else can fill it.

This Christmas, as you open your gifts and spend time with family and friends, keep in mind that the conflict that led to the coming of Jesus was not the lack of vacancy in the inn, but the vacancy in our hearts that we have attempted to fill with sin. Bear also in mind that Jesus didn't come to earth and fill just any vacancy. He filled the vacancy on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the sins we commit attempting to fill the God-shaped hole with other things. This Christmas, celebrate that there is room for Jesus, and as a believer, celebrate that the hole in your heart is filled.

If the empty space in your heart is not filled, I implore you to look nowhere else. This season, we are reminded that a baby boy came down to earth, but we often neglect the purpose. He came for us, so someday we can stand before our Creator and no longer have a space in our heart. Because of the baby boy we celebrate this time of year, we will one day stand before the throne of the king of the universe pure and whole. That's the true reason we celebrate Christmas.