Day 9 – No Room In Religion
Luke 2:7
Focal Scripture: “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,.”
According to Spurgeon: Is there room for Christ in our society? We make room for lots of things, etiquette, frivolous conversation, adoring the body, setting up new idols every hour. But to bring up Christ will make people uncomfortable and even get us kicked out of places. People tolerate everything, but not Christ. Sometimes the ones that claim a love for Christ are the ones that work against Him the most. They claim to lead His sheep, but have no love for Him. It seems like the only ones that have room for Him are those with humble and contrite spirits and by grace He gives them shelter. We must keep in mind that if God’s word is true, we are called to act upon it.
No Room For Christ In The Inn-Sermon delivered Dec. 21, 1862
My Thoughts: Oftentimes we look at the past and believe things were better back then; however, even in Spuergeon’s time we see that our beliefs were not welcomed. As a society we make space for all things. Things that don’t matter and things that don’t have the power to change our lives, but we can’t accept what matters most. We struggle to accept Christ into our lives. Once we accept Him, we struggle to keep His word, His commandments. Sometimes we compromise His word, not because we don’t believe it, but because we know that fully embracing His word will get us mocked, banned or compromise our relationship with friends and family. We would rather keep quiet or misrepresent God. In those times it is important to remember Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” We decide what matters most: to be accepted by the world or Christ, but we cannot have both.
Prayer Note:
Help us to be in this world, but not become part of it
Give us strength and wisdom to be able to follow God and not man