Make Room for the Promise! Part 2

BY REV. DORAL PULLEY

• Luke 2:1-7

God is a Promise-Keeper! Despite all the people who have disappointed us by not keeping their promises to us, we can depend on God to fulfill his promises. Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise to the Hebrew people. The birth of Jesus symbolizes hope being born again in our hearts.

Mary was pregnant with the promise of God and Joseph accompanied her to the town of Bethlehem   so that they could be taxed.  When they showed up to the inn, the innkeeper turned them away because there was no room for them. Like the innkeeper, we all have a choice to make when God’s promise shows up at our door. We have choice to make room or to let the promise be born in the manger.

To make room, the innkeeper could have cancelled another reservation. Often to make room for the promise of God, we must cancel reservations. Our schedules can be changed. Our itineraries can be altered.  No appointment is more important than God’s promise being manifested in our lives. What reservations are you willing to cancel for God’s promise?

The innkeeper also had the option to clean out storage. Often, we say that we don’t have room when the truth is that we have storage space that is filled with junk, things that no longer work and clothes that no longer fit. Once we clean out the storage of our hearts, where we have been holding bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, envy and strife, we will have room for God’s promise. What storage are you willing to clean out for God’s promise?

Another way for the innkeeper to handle the situation was to evict or clear someone else from the inn. Many times, we let the promise of God walk out the door because we don’t want to hurt other people’s feelings or we don’t want them to be inconvenienced.  Who and what are you willing to clear out of your life so that you have room for God’s promise?