“The Greatest Story Ever Told,” starts off a little shady. An unplanned pregnancy, a road trip, some not-so-nice lodging arrangements, and then a pretty unlikely place for a baby to be born––much less Baby King Jesus! His first bed was a manger…probably made of stone––cold and damp, filled with hay––scratchy and with cattle spittle in it, and pushed into the side of a hill in the middle of “nowheresville”––Bethlehem! God, couldn’t you at least have given Jesus a real bed?
Fast forward a couple of thousand years to Orlando, Florida!
It was the Christmas of 2001. I bought my wife a queen size bed. It was a BEAUTIFUL poster bed––cherry wood imported from India. Before you imagine the price, I bought it on sale with a coupon and it was a close-out from the prior year. But, it was perfect for us!
I struggled to get it home. I struggled even more to put it together! But I managed to get it all set up just in time to throw all the boxes away and surprise Jen for Christmas Eve!
Years later we now realize (after a Beagle puppy named Toby John, then our 1st son Isaiah, 1st Daughter Bella, and final child Ian) we should have gotten a king size bed. There just isn’t enough room for all of us!
As I think this Christmas Season about the poster bed that still sits in our bedroom compared to the little stone manger that Jesus was born in, I really believe that Jen and I got the better bargain.
Except for one very important detail… there is not enough room for everybody in my family to be on our bed! But that little King’s Size Bed––there is room for everybody in His-story! John 14:2 Jesus said, “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home!”
On second thought, I may have received the better bargain…but He has the better ending––Heaven with that Baby, King Jesus!
Merry Christmas!