Jesus said to the religious Jews who opposed Him, ‘I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.’ (Jn 8:37-38)
Having no room for God’s Word is like wearing tight-fitting clothes which are uncomfortable and restrictive. It’s not enough to know what God says about truth. We have to do what He commands us to. (James 1:22)
If we want to have the freedom to change, to move freely in the spacious world of salvation which God has provided for us, we have to make room for God’s word in our lives and hearts. Just as there was no room at the inn for Mary and Joseph and Jesus made His appearance as a baby in a stable, we can shut Jesus out of many rooms in our lives, building walls to keep Him out of certain areas of our lives. We might come to church on Sundays, but we don’t want to make room for Him in our everyday lives. We don’t want Him to challenge us on our attitudes; we’d rather continue in our unforgiveness and misery than swallow our pride and forgive. We don’t want Him to challenge us about our money; we’d rather go it alone than give Him everything. We don’t want Him to set us free because we have got used to living in restricted room and there is a certain familiarity to slavery which is less daunting than the wide, open spaces of freedom. We so easily have no room for God’s word, thinking it impractical and illogical and justifying to ourselves why we think that. When we are like this, we turn our backs on the possibility of miracles and transformation, all because we have no room for God’s word.
Making room for God’s Word means being responsive to what He tells us to do – whether that’s to forgive, to speak a word of encouragement, to step out in faith or however He speaks to us and challenges us. This can be very difficult, but Jesus is the One who is full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:14) If we’re struggling with the truth, we can ask for grace to obey and it will be freely given.