'No Room At The Inn'

On the back of the last post, I was thinking about the Inn being a picture of the Church and I was reminded of the Christmas story.

Luke's gospel tells us in chapter 2 '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.'

I would like to open this up a little and explain what the Holy Spirit has been showing me.
Mary and Joseph had been summoned, like everyone else, back to their hometown of Bethlehem to be counted in a census. Mary was heavily pregnant when they set off and by the time they arrived she needed to find a place to deliver the child within her. The child was coming soon. Any woman who has given birth will understand the urgency of such a situation. The baby will not wait past its appointed time.

Anyway, I imagine Mary and Joseph knocking on doors in Bethlehem, just like we see in the Nativity plays, and being told 'There is no room at the inn'. Here is the young woman about to bring forth the Son of God, and nobody wants to know. Mary and Joseph were only two people, I'm sure they could have been squeezed in somewhere but the lodgers at the inn wanted no interruption of their own comfort. They wanted no reminder of the realities of life and death and certainly no cessation of their feasting and festivities. The people were unaware that God Himself would have visited with them, would have been in the midst of them but they rejected Him and His presence, There was no room for the Son of God in those inns so He went elsewhere to a humbler place, came into the world away from the festivities and was laid humbly in a manger. The masses in Bethlehem missed it and they missed out. And this makes me wonder about something.

The Son of God is coming back to the earth and He will once again knock at the door of the Inn.
Rev 20:3 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock’ - will He find room for Himself at the Inn that is the church?

There is a warning in my heart. So many people gather into the Inn to please themselves and be comfortable, just like those people of old in Bethlehem. With regard to the Saviour, they have declared ‘No room at the Inn’. So many are comfortable in the Inn, not wishing to be disturbed by the realities of life and death and are not conscious of the urgency of the time. Without the Son of God the inn is just another meeting place. A church is only a church because of the presence of God.
How sad to miss out on the presence of God and be concerned only with comfort and pleasure. How tragic to be satisfied with an ordinary inn and miss out on the church- the dwelling place of God. He will again leave that place and go to humbler surroundings where He will be recognised and received as the Son of God.

The Son is coming soon and He will not wait past the appointed time. We live in an urgent time. Praise God that He will find a people awaiting His arrival with excitement and wonder, just like the Magi and the shepherds. Not all have rejected Him. The church is alive and waiting for her King. Once again the heavenly host will accompany the Son of God to the earth and those who have made room for Him at the Inn will receive Him as their King.
Jesus makes a promise to those who make room for Him; ‘If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.’ Those who open the door will have sweet fellowship with the Son of God forever!

This Christmas, remember to open the door and welcome in the Son of God!
God Bless