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Let every heart prepare Him room

Why can't we put the nativity on the mantel?
Because the nativity is too big and it wouldn't be stable.
(Credit to my 14y.o. niece for inadvertently coming up with this joke!)

Yep, there are pineapples on my Christmas tree.  I ❤️ pineapples.  And while there was nothing particularly spiritual involved in my decision to put pineapples on my Christmas tree, if you pay enough attention, you'll start to see Jesus in everything.

Pineapples, in addition to being the finest fruit in all of creation, have long been a symbol of hospitality.  If you recall the Christmas story, hospitality was lacking when Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem.  The best the innkeeper could do was offer them a stable.  And so the King of the world was born in the humblest of places.

If we're really honest with ourselves, though, how often do we resemble the innkeeper?  How often do we try to shove Jesus off into a small place in our lives and our hearts while we go about our business as usual?  Okay, Jesus, like you can be here but be over there where you're not going to disrupt anything.

Or maybe we try to do a little better and we allow Jesus into the shiny, presentable parts of our lives.  Hi Jesus, thanks for stopping by but uhh ignore all that clutter over there.

Do we show Jesus the kind of hospitality He deserves as King?  Do we offer Him our whole hearts and allow Him to really take up residence in our lives?  Do we allow Him into the messy, ugly bits that we hope no one sees or knows about?

Because the reality is we can't make ourselves shiny and presentable to God.  The whole point of Him stepping down from His rightful place was to step into our brokenness and restore us.  Restore us to righteousness.  Restore us to holiness.  Restore us to relationship with our Heavenly Father.  If we don't invite Him into our mess then there was no point for Him to walk among us.  If we don't allow Jesus into our brokenness then there's no point to Christmas.

Suddenly, a symbol of hospitality makes perfect sense as a Christmas decoration.  I hope I'm consistently offering my whole heart to Jesus.  I hope to prepare Him room more and more daily as He shows me things in my life that distract from Him, things that don't honor and glorify Him the way that He absolutely deserves and has more than earned.  Pineapples on my Christmas tree have become a beautiful reminder of Jesus's rightful place.

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