January 22

BEST LIFE NOW?

Father, thank You for bringing me to this place and this time today. I ask You to speak to me right now, and to let Your Word breathe life into my heart. Please use these next few moments to bring me to more of a fullness of You and to learn more of Your Glory and how to leave the footprints of Jesus everywhere I go today. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen!

Read Luke 2:1-7

My housing situation of late has been precarious to say the least. I am currently in a state of limbo and trying to figure out where to go, and where God is directing me. Maybe this present situation of mine is what makes the end of verse 7 stand out to me. Whatever the reason, my eyes are drawn to this phrase:

“there was no room for them in the inn,”

This phrase causes me to yet again reexamine my preset ideas about Jesus.

I remember sitting in my General Psychology class as a freshman in college, and learning about the concept of a schema. A schema is nothing more than a generalized diagram or plan. I remember my professor describing it to us in this way though. When you or I drive up to a fast food restaurant drive thru, we expect certain things to take place. We are prepared for them to ask for our order, maybe suggest a new or limited time item, and to encourage us to upsize our order. When this basic order is violated, we are sometimes taken aback. We are all victims of our ingrained schemas. For instance, one time I went through a Taco Bell drive thru, and instead of suggesting a new type of fajita meat burrito or a cheesy gordita crunch, the person on the intercom asked me if I wanted a taco. That is just not what you expect to happen.

The same thing goes through my mind as I read these 7 verses. I do not expect Jesus to face this many difficulties in arriving here on earth. I mean He is denied a room at the inn. Not really what you imagine to happen, is it? You would think that everything would work out for Him; that things would be better choreographed, and that there would be no problems or hardships in life. Yet He arrives in the middle of slight crisis, and is born in a stable.

There is a very disturbing current trend in pop theology that teaches if you follow Jesus, then life will be great. The major problem with this is that scripture, and more importantly what scripture says about the life of Christ, does not teach this principle.

My encouragement for you today is to not expect life to be perfect and trouble free as you seek to follow Jesus. Leave His footprints anyway!

Leave His footprints as you walk today!