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he story, now a legend, is told how Wallace Purling added a new touch to the Christmas play in a small town in the Midwest. Wallace was a little slow in the learning department. He was nine at the time and should have been in the fourth grade but was still in the second. In spite of his mental slowness, he was liked by the other kids in his class even though he was quite a bit taller and bigger than they.

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According to the legend, Wallace fancied being a shepherd with a flute in the Christmas pageant that year, but the director, Miss Lumbard, thought he might better fit the role of the innkeeper. After all, he wouldn\'t have too many lines to remember and, because of his size, he would be able to present a more forceful refusal to the much smaller Joseph.

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So the big night came. Behind stage, Wallace was so totally engrossed in the play that Miss Lombard had to make sure he didn\'t wander onstage before his cue.

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Then came Wallace\'s part.

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Looking exhausted from the long journey, Joseph and Mary slowly approached the entrance to the inn. Joseph knocked. The door opened immediately, and with Wallace putting on his gruffest voice declared, \"What do you want?\"

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\'Seek elsewhere,\' Wallace
barked. \'This in is filled.\'

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\"We seek lodging,\" Joseph replied.

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\"Seek it elsewhere,\" Wallace barked. \"This inn is filled.\"

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\"Sir, we have asked everywhere in vain. We have traveled far and are very weary.\"

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\"There\'s no room in this inn for you,\" Wallace stated strongly.

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\"Please, good innkeeper, this is my wife, Mary. She is heavy with child and needs a place to rest. Surely you must have some small corner for her. She is so tired,\" Joseph pleaded.

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For the first time, the innkeeper began to let down his guard and relax a little. There was a long pause ... and silence. Now the audience was beginning to feel tense.

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\"No! Begone!\" whispered the prompter from the wings.

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\"No!\" Wallace repeated automatically. \"Begone!\"

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Joseph looked at Mary, put his arm around her, and with heads bowed in sadness, they slowly walked away.

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But the innkeeper didn\'t close the door and go inside. He stood there with mouth open watching the forlorn couple leaving his inn. He was genuinely upset. His eyes unmistakably filled with tears.

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Then totally unexpected, Wallace departed from his memorized script ...

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\"Don\'t go, Joseph,\" Wallace called out. \"Bring Mary back.\"

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And then with a broad grin lighting up his whole face he spoke out loudly and clearly, \"You can have my room.\"

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Some in the audience felt Wallace had ruined the pageant. Others, however, felt it was the best Christmas pageant they had ever seen.

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Not so fortunate on that first Christmas morn so long ago in the little town of Bethlehem of Judea. Little did that innkeeper know he had just turned away the Christ child-the Son of God and Creator of all the Universe, saying that there was no room in his inn for Him! In turning Jesus away, the Son of God had nowhere to lay his head except for a manger in a stable.

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He, the King of Glory, was born in a stable so that he could redeem us from our sins and provide for us a mansion in heaven to live with him forever.

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As Jesus said to his disciples and followers during his brief three-year period of ministry, \"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father\'s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.\"¹

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A popular religion today believes and teaches that Jesus was a great prophet, but they vehemently deny that he is the Son of God. However, if Jesus, about whom God the Father said, \"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,\"² and who himself claimed to be the Son of God, is not who he claimed to be, then he is neither a great teacher nor prophet of God, but a liar and a deceiver.

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I am an historian, I am not a believer, but
I must confess as a historian that this
penniless preacher from Nazareth is
irrevocably the very center of history.

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Many have claimed to be the Christ, but the Christmas Jesus who was born as a babe in Bethlehem is the only one who ever claimed he would rise from the dead and who has convinced untold millions of followers to believe that he did.

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I have read how Larry King, the renowned talk show host, was once asked whom he would like to interview if he had his pick from all of history. His answer was Jesus Christ. The questioner paused and said, \"What is the one question you would like to ask him?\"

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Larry King answered, \"I would ask him if he indeed was virgin born, because the answer to that would define history for me.\"

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The late H.G. Wells, British author, once said, \"I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.\"

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How true. Jesus Christ is indeed the pivotal point in our history. And he will be the pivotal point for all eternity.
The important issue for you and me is will we tell him there is no room in the inn of our heart for him, or like Wallace, will we tell him, \"I\'ll give you the room of my heart!\"

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How we answer that question will determine where we spend eternity. If you have never invited Jesus into your heart, why not do that today. For only he, and he alone, can forgive our sins and give to us the gift of eternal life.

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To help you do this click on the \"God\'s Invitation\" button link below for a special prayer you can pray.

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In the words of the hymn writer:

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My Lord has garments so wondrous fine,
And myrrh their texture fills;
Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine,
With joy its being thrills.
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Out of the Ivory Palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great, eternal love
Made my Savior go.
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1. John 14:1-3, NKJV.
2. Matthew 3:17.
3. Matthew 26:63-64.

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