Make Room For Jesus

There is no doubt that we are busy people. Between careers and work, families and friends, gardens and yard work, hobbies and recreation, and school it’s any wonder that we have time to do anything. I want to challenge the notion that we're too busy with some thoughts from a lesson entitled Make Room for Jesus.

You remember the birth story of Jesus well. Joseph and Mary have traveled back to Bethlehem for the census and when they arrive there is no room in the guest room[i]. The reason there was no room in the guest room is because the people who were occupying it wouldn’t make room for Jesus. John records in John 1:11 that Jesus “went to His own and His own didn’t receive Him.” We must recognize that we are Jesus’ own and He’s coming to us this very day asking if we will make room for Him in our lives. I want to equip you with five ways you can make room for Jesus in your lives today…

#1 Praying on Purpose - Making room for Jesus means we are people who pray on purpose.

If you could use one of two words to describe your prayer life, purposeful or haphazard, which one would you choose? I dare say that many of us, me included, would say that more times than not our prayer lives are characterized as being haphazard. We pray whenever it’s convenient, we pray wherever it’s, and we pray shotgun prayers that have no real sense of purpose.

But we’re wanting make room for Jesus by not just merely praying but praying more effectively, we would say by praying on purpose. The way we make room for Jesus by praying on purpose is to:

- Have a set time for prayer (Daniel 6:10; Act 3:1).

- Getting away from it all to pray (Mark 1:35; 6:46; Matthew 6:6; 1 Corinthians 7:5).

- Targeting our prayers to specific needs (Luke 22:21-23; 1 Kings 3:7-9; Psalms 28, 51, 148)

- Reading for Relevance - Making room for Jesus means we are people who read for relevance.

How do you view the bible? You need to realize that way we view the Bible predisposes you to read it in a certain way. If you view the Bible as a book that is too hard to understand then you’re going to be predisposed to not read it and if you do read it you’re going to look for reason why you can’t understand it. If you view the Bible as something that’s just for church then you’ll leave it, rarely use and you’ll find no real use for it in your life. Those attitudes about the Bible don’t make room for Jesus in our lives because those views of scripture actually don’t see Jesus’ words as having any relevance in our lives.

A view of scripture that makes room for Jesus can be found 2 Timothy 3:16-17. If we approach our reading of the Bible with the thought in mind that these words will teach us godly living, correct our faults, instruct us in the way of righteousness and equip us for every good work then we will see the relevance of the scriptures in our lives. Our readings of the Bible will come alive because they will no longer stories of ancient people who lived in faraway lands, they’ll be stores that relate to you today and the circumstances that you live in today.

Let’s be people of the book. Let’s read for relevance seeking to learn the lessons preserved for us. Let’s make room for Jesus and His words in our lives.

#2 Fellowshipping with Friends - Making room for Jesus means we are people who fellowship with friends.

In our day and age the word fellowship is associated with socializing. It encompasses eating together, meeting together, playing together, etc. That’s a correct way of using the word fellowship. I dare say that many of you have been taught that the Bible does not use the word fellowship in connection with social activities. And that’s correct it doesn’t. But we must understand that the word koinōnia, which is translated fellowship, does include those things (socializing events) by virtue of the other English words translated for koinōnia, mainly the word share[ii] (Hebrews 13:16; 1 Timothy 6:18; Galatians 6:6).

But sharing and fellowship with people in general doesn’t help us make room for Jesus does it? Making room for Jesus through fellowship means that fellowship with friends. Do you realize that Christians (disciples of Christ) were also called friends in the bible? Note the usage of friends in 3 John 14, John 15:14-15. If we are going to be people who make room for Jesus then we are to be people who fellowship with His friends. Because when we fellowship His friends we fellowship with Him (Matthew 25:40).