MAKING ROOM FOR JESUS

“Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.” – Luke 10:38-40.

There’s a trend in the U.S. housing market, albeit a very small one. Drawn to the prospect of financial freedom, a simpler lifestyle, and limiting one’s environmental footprint, more buyers are opting to downsize in some cases to spaces no larger than 300 square feet- people are buying into the tiny house movement. One of the most significant challenges is the limited space. Adapting to a smaller living area means you have to be extremely selective about what you keep, often leading to difficult decisions about which possessions to part with. Making room by finding creative storage solutions is a constant challenge.

If Jesus was coming to stay in a room in your house, how would you get that room ready for Him? If you had a tiny house, it would be a matter of carving out some additional room in an already cramped space. You would first move the stuff that already occupies that space, vacuum, dust, and maybe add a few homey touches like flowers in preparation for a divine guest. If Jesus showed up without notice, I think He would be waiting for some time before he had access to the room.

If you have ever watched the Tiny House Nation TV series, you know the people who build the tiny houses take the buyers’ wishes and work tirelessly and creatively to translate those wishes into a small footprint. They are proud of their work and can’t wait to open the doors and show their handiwork to the new owner. In the same way, we should be excited to open up our hearts and make room for Jesus. When we open our home to a guest, we’d never think of inviting them in and ignoring them. We would never think of telling them to go sit in the corner until we are ready to talk to them for our obligatory 15 minutes. Instead, we offer food, conversation, and relationship.

In the same way, Jesus is often waiting for us to make room for Him in our lives. Jesus should have access to the entire house, not just one room. We should tell Him, “go wherever you want, Jesus; there’s no room or closet closed off to you.”

The Lord wants us to make more room for Him in our daily lives—in every area of our lives. We need to slow down from so many activities and projects and spend more time with the Lord. The more we make room for Jesus in our lives, the more the Holy Spirit will lead us to intentionally make more room for Him.

God doesn’t want to be compartmentalized to a day of the week or a holiday. He wants you to invite Him and say, “Come, Lord Jesus. Be Lord of my life.” My whole life.

Discussion Questions:

1. Which area of your life do you have the most trouble making room for Jesus?