Making Room for Something Better

With Christmas right around the corner, the only way I can stay organized and not turn into the Grinch is to make lists, lists and more lists! I have lists for presents, lists for food, and lists for tasks like cleaning the house and baking.

One of the most pressing tasks that I want to accomplish before Christmas is to de-clutter my house. We always seem to accumulate stuff, and because Christmas is coming, we will be getting more. I love opening presents on Christmas morning, but I will need to have room to put everything away afterward.  

I started with my walk-in closet this week, because I was running out of hangers and space. After hours of taking things out, sorting, folding, hanging, organizing, I had two large garbage bags of things to donate and newly found space in my closet. It surprised me how much stuff I had that I didn't need.

I was more than willing to put in the time and effort to go through my closet because I know that something better is coming.  

When Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem shortly before the birth of Jesus, they couldn’t find a place to stay anywhere because every inn and guest room was full. The only place they found was a stable, so when Jesus was born, they wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.

The innkeepers’ rooms were too full, which also reflected the state of their hearts: They had no room in their hearts for Jesus the Messiah, the Savior of the world. They missed the opportunity to meet Him that night because they didn’t have room.

Is my heart too full for Jesus right now?

Is your heart too full?

If He knocked on our door would we have room for Him? Would we recognize Him?

The innkeepers were concerned with making a profit from renting out rooms to people in need. If they knew just who it was was knocking at their doors, they probably would have kicked some people out to make room. But they didn’t know, because they weren’t anticipating Jesus’ arrival.

We ARE anticipating His arrival. Although His birth happened over 2000 years ago, we know He still wants to meet with us today. We have the opportunity to let Him in to our hearts, so what are we going to do about it?

We fill our lives with many things – many good things! We work and raise our children. We have hobbies and passions we like to entertain. We have people in our lives who are important. We have needs and wants to be met.

Let’s not forget about the unwelcome things that take up residence, like worry, stress, control, fear, anxiety, and guilt.

Especially approaching the holidays, we seem to cram as much as we can into the little time we have. We need to buy gifts, make cookies and decorate the tree. We have good intentions; we want to have a great Christmas.

But among the business and the to-do lists, are we making room for what is really important?

Is the seemingly important taking the space of the MOST important?

We need the space in our lives for when we meet with Jesus. He is better than anything else that could be taking His place in our hearts.

I am always tempted around Christmas time to focus on making everything perfect. I have ideas in my head of what this season should look like, down to making the tastiest charcuterie board and playing pond hockey with my siblings as much as possible. But those things aren’t the most important.

Many of the clothing items I donated were still nice and in good shape. I just don’t need them as much as I want what is coming (preferably in the form of Lululemon or new socks).

I will still enjoy Christmas even if I don’t end up de-cluttering everything beforehand. But leaving presents piled around the living room instead of having space to put them away is not desirable. Our lives can get cluttered, but there’s a better way. I can choose to clean out my closet beforehand to make room.

If we don’t make room, we miss out on what is to come. I don’t want to miss out on what Jesus has for me because I am too preoccupied with less important things. 

With God, the best is always yet to come, because He always has more of Himself to offer us. And the more we have of Him, the better and more full life is. 

If nothing else gets done before Christmas, I pray that my heart will be ready and have room to receive Him.  

The beautiful truth is that we can carve out the space to meet with Jesus every day, not just at Christmas. We just might need to make some adjustments.

What areas of your heart are cluttered with things that could be taking the place of Jesus?

Stay tuned for WHY Jesus is better than whatever else could be taking up the space in our lives and hearts.