Listen to our message on your audio player.

"Because there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7).

In our lead photo we show the Rocky Acre farmhouse which is now a Bed and Breakfast. Today, in light of our text, we will muse about our lodging experiences over the years and encourage you to think about yours as well.

As children when we traveled we almost always stayed with relatives even if that meant the children slept on the floor. The few times we did use a motel, due to my mom's depression era thriftiness, we would stay in the lowest budget hotel that had a vacancy.

I suppose in part, based on my upbringing and the fact that we were "dirt poor" college students we spent the first night of our honeymoon in a budget motel, practically embarrassing in light of the type of places newlyweds go to today. However it worked out just fine and this spring we will celebrate our 49th anniversary.

Throughout our marriage we have stayed in a variety of places including bed and breakfast type places. During some conferences we stayed in nicer hotels near the convention hall but through most of our travel we stay in mostly mid-level type hotels.

The worst places also come to mind and actually provide long term memories of our experience:

Once when traveling back to Pennsylvania from a visit to our parents in the Midwest we had a hard time finding any vacancy. Finally north of Columbus, Ohio we stopped at a budget motel that had a room. At that time we were caring for Heber, an 18 month old heart child from Guatemala who was in the states for heart repair. Exhausted from the trip we quickly went to our room and laid Heber down on the waterbed as we were trying to get settled in.

Almost immediately he started crying so Brooksyne held him trying to get him settled and later put him down on the bed again. He began crying again, tears and all. We couldn't figure out what was wrong until Brooksyne sat down with him on the bed and realized the bed was piping hot. Apparently the thermostat for the water wasn't working and the temperature was extremely hot. Thankfully we got him off before he was hurt. We complained at the office but it was the only room available. Being too tired to drive further we stayed in the room and waited several hours for the bed to finally cool down. It was a miserable experience we've never forgotten. However as I recall it did have a place to put in a quarter for the bed to vibrate. (Anyone else remember when some motels had that feature?)

Today's text describes the night Jesus was born after Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, long before the internet and reservations. Of all things when they finally arrived and Mary was ready to give birth, they found there was no room for them in the inn.

What might the inn itself have been like? It's easy to picture a modern inn and we may even assume it was like a nice hotel. Several weeks ago we drove through Bethlehem, PA and passed by the historic Bethlehem Hotel (above), a beautiful property that is very popular, especially during the Christmas season. It boasts a spectacular display of over 35,000 Christmas lights, a multitude of uniquely decorated Christmas trees, 36 wreaths, six 7 foot Toy Soldiers, two life size Nutcrackers and a gingerbread house modeled after the hotel.

While we may assume the inn of ancient Bethlehem was sort of a hotel, that probably was not the case. The Greek word translated "inn" can also be translated "guest room" as some versions translate it.

Some believe that Jesus may not have been born in a separate stable or barn as we traditionally picture it, but in a house with a lower floor serving as a nighttime shelter for the families’ animals. If this was true, it wouldn’t be surprising to find a manger located in that area of the house.

When Luke states there was no room in the inn, he could have meant there was no room on the upper level, which would have been full of other people sleeping due to the same census that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.

Another question to ponder is why Jesus was born in these conditions. The gotquestions.org teaching site makes this point:

We don't know what the Inn in ancient Bethlehem was like, a posh hotel or far more likely a simple guest house. We don't know whether the innkeeper was a grump or a kind man. But Luke explains to his readers why Mary laid the precious holy Child in a manger, "Because there was no room for them in the inn". As with most Scripture this leads us to an application challenge. Have you given Jesus room in the "inn" of your life and invited Him to live in your heart?

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, we thank You for Jesus who modeled the supreme example of humility, when He chose to be born of a simple virgin youth, to be fathered by a young Jewish carpenter, and to be delivered in a smelly setting among noisy, dirty and loud animals. You selected an angelic host to declare the good news of Christ's birth not to the town mayor or gate keeper but to the lowly shepherds, a despised people at that time. We want to humble ourselves in Your sight, O Lord, so that You might lift us up in due season to be blessed and sanctified by You, which is our prayer. Amen.

Randy Alcorn writes: