Our Christmas devotional for this week comes from Luke’s Gospel:  Luke 2:6-7:

‘And while they were there, the time come for her to give birth.  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’.

This morning as we think about the place of Jesus’ birth, we are reminded of several facts about it.

First, it was a SECRET place:  few people would have known its whereabouts.

Second, it was a SEPARATED place:  most mothers do not wish to give birth in public.

Third, it was a SACRED place:  common though it might have been, it was sacred because Jesus was there.

Fourth, it was a SECURE place:  Jesus was attended by the ‘hosts of heaven’.  He was quite secure.

As we consider these facets of His birth place, we can draw a parallel between Jesus’ stable and our souls.  Our souls are secret in as much as they cannot be easily seen by anyone but Jesus.  Our souls are a separated place for us to be alone with Jesus, free from the entrapments of the bustling culture around us.  Our souls are a sacred place where we meet daily with Jesus.  And our souls are a secure place in as much as we have given them to the Lord to own, fill and use as He desires.

One question in a well loved hymn asks, ‘IS THERE ANY ROOM FOR JESUS?’

Let’s answer that question this morning with a sincere ‘YES’ as we offer Jesus our souls as a ‘secret, separated, sacred and secure place’.