Title: Keep Your Stables Open! (Luke 02:17)
Contents Among the events of the Nativity of Jesus, the one that draws our attention the most is the birth of the stable of Jesus. In fact, we're used to the dramatically beautified stables in Christmas cards, so it might not feel like much, but it was a real stable. It was an ordinary rural stable, full of the smell of livestock manure and cluttered with the cries of cattle. I can't help but wonder, "Why did Jesus have to choose such a place as a historical place for Christmas?" But prayerfully add a little bit of depth to our thoughts and consider how that dirty and ugly stable has changed since His coming. It is no coincidence that those filthy, humble stables have been turned into places of worship and praise, and go out and become the most sacred places to commemorate. That is the real purpose of our Lord, Jesus, for coming to this earth. Jesus came to this earth to seek out things that are dirty, ugly, alienated, and abandoned like a stable in this world and transform them into something new and precious. That is why Jesus is constantly looking for that stable today!
1. Where is the stable today
First, the land we live in is a stable.
A place full of soot and sulfurous gas that is worse than the smell of livestock, a place where the garbage of luxury and waste piles up on every street, a place where the battle of merciless human beings, like beasts, to fill their stomachs never ends. It is a stable.
Second, the hierarchy of this land is a stable.
A place where the struggle for position does not stop, a place fenced by denominations and denominations, a place where the smell of worldly greed is terrifying, so our church system today, where people are despised and ostracized by the world, is a spiritual and religious stable. is.
Third, our minds are our stables.
A place where the stench of an old man still remains, a place where the ugly cries of desire and desire do not cease, a place where hatred and hatred, pride and selfishness often raise their heads. My heart is my personal stable.
2. However, this stable can also be changed.
After Jesus came, the stable in Bethlehem could no longer be an ordinary place with the smell and howl of cattle. Because of the coming of Jesus, it has become a place of worship, a place of worship, a place of dedication, and now a holy place where the most sacred 'Church of the Nativity' was built. As long as the Lord comes to this country, our religious circles, and our hearts, which are like today's stables polluted with injustice, corruption, greed and strife, their ugly appearance will change into something holy and beautiful. As long as the Lord comes! Let's take the Lord there today!
3. Then how can we receive Jesus?
First, we must prepare a place for Jesus.
It's good for places that aren't well organized and unorganized. Make room for the interest of ‘you must serve the Lord’. ‘Come, Lord!’ This means that we need to create a place for our longing hearts. We must make room for our Lord to lie down in the thoughts and desires of the ordinary, ordinary life that fill our hearts. Then the Lord Himself will come and change that place, like a stable, into a clean and sacred place.
Second, open the door to the stable!
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20), the Lord tells us. Today, we must listen to these words and open the door of this country, the religious world, and our hearts. That is why we must make it our Lord to come back to this place like a stable.
Beloved saints of Bethel! Let's leave the door of our stable open. May the Lord, who came to light and save a dark and ugly world, no longer stand at the door and wait... ! The stable will be transformed into a sanctuary for the Lord!
December 15, 1996 Longing for the Lord's coming