No vacancy! Over the years my wife and I have seen this sign written in neon red on motels and hotels of towns and cities that we were traveling through. We needed a room, but there weren't any available. I recall making an impromptu trip to the Adirondack Mountains in NY one summer night, hoping that we would be able to stay the night and enjoy the sights the following morning.
The "no vacancy" signs were on literally every motel and hotel that we approached. We finally turned around and made the 3 hour trip back home. It wasn't that the motel or hotel operators were hostile in anyway; they just didn't have anymore rooms available.
The same is true of the situation in the narrative of the verse today. I've seen plays and programs where the innkeeper is mean and angry about the fact that he has no rooms left for these two weary travelers, but I don't believe that this is an accurate portrayal of how it really was that night. The inn just didn't have any room because it was already filled with guests!
I've often wondered what would have taken place had the inn-keeper known that he was turning away the parents of the Messiah, and the Savior of the world would be birthed while they stayed there. Would that have changed his mind about available space?
I've pondered how I have sometimes allowed the cares of this world to crowd out eternal things in my daily day. The ringing smartphone, the number of e-mails to answer, and the amazing amount of details that take up my day have been a struggle for me.
Each detail is important, each call is something I need to answer, each e-mail is something I need to reply to. But none of it deserves as much room in my life as Jesus!
God should never have to see a "no vacancy" sign on the door of our hearts.
