Making Room for Christmas

Prepare your heart for the holidays in this devotion with Heather Hart.

Bible Verse for Today

“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

Luke 2:7

Devotion for Today

Making Room for Christmas

Years ago, when my kids were still small, my husband and sons built me a manger. I still remember them out in the cold, my then 4-year-old son, sitting on the wood to hold it in place, while my husband used the hand saw to cut it to the length they needed. Then they screwed it all together, and carried it into the house, beaming with pride over what they had accomplished. A decade later, it is still my favorite Christmas decoration.

Every year, instead of placing our presents under a tree, we put them under the manger. Then on Christmas morning, we kneel at the crèche of Christ. It’s not the prettiest or shiniest part of our Christmas, but it captures my heart in a way nothing else could.

And I know that while my manger isn’t pretty (it’s kind of big and awkward) that first manger probably wasn’t very pretty either. But Christmas really wasn’t about the manger at all. Christmas would still be Christmas if there had been room in the inn. Christmas would still be Christmas, no matter the circumstances. But it just so happens, there wasn’t room for Christmas in the inn that night. That’s where my heart is this morning as I sit here pondering on the manger.

There wasn’t room for Christmas then, and I wonder if there is room for Christmas here? My days get so full, and my holidays are so busy. I am wondering if I am leaving room for Christmas this year. Have I left room for Jesus to move, or have I packed my schedule so full of last-minute plans that I am so stressed I can’t stop for even a minute?

Christmas would still be Christmas if there was room in the inn. Share on X