To Encourage You

Mark 11:1-3 “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciplesand said to them, ‘Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” say, “The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.”’”

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said this about the use of our possessions: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).  In other words, if our heart is focused on this earth, a place that will pass away, then we will view the things we possess and which will likewise pass away as “our pleasure.” We will selfishly enjoy them, use them, and otherwise indulge in them.  It will all be short term, mind you, but that will be our focus. On the other hand, if our “things” whatever they are, are used primarily to the glory of God, it will be an indication that our heart and the treasures of our heart are focused on eternity. But that’s not to say there won’t be glorious benefits right here and now.

In the passage above, we read a curious story about a donkey. Jesus had need of it. The fact was, it was already His, for He has proclaimed to us, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine” (Psalm 50:10-11). So, I’m sure He both owns and knows all the donkeys! And everything else is, ultimately, His as well, for haven’t we been told, “Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it” Deuteronomy 10:14).  Likewise, we’ve been told that “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). Yet Jesus has allotted to each of us His possessions as His stewards.  As such, we have a great responsibility regarding how we use them.  There’s coming a time when all of us will give an account.  And the result? We will either hear, “Well done good and faithful servant” or “You’ve been wicked and slothful in what you’ve done.” (Matthew 25:14-30).

But back to the donkey.  This particular donkey, i.e., Jesus’ donkey, was needed by Jesus for a very specific purpose.  It was this donkey upon which He would ride into Jerusalem and publicly be proclaimed the Messiah.  And so when the people who were, in essence, stewards of this donkey, were told that Jesus needed it, they readily gave it to the disciples for that purpose.  It was a temporary need.  They were told that Jesus would send it back to them immediately. However, the purpose for which Jesus used it had an eternal significance. We still read and talk about this donkey today, for it, and the donkey’s owners, had a role in the steps leading to the cross. It was there that Jesus would give His life for us.  It was there that Jesus would provide salvation for the world.

And so, as this donkey was returned to its owners, I doubt that they could ever look at it the same.  Jesus had ridden on it. Jesus had touched it. Jesus had been exalted while He was upon it as the King of kings and Lord of lords.  The God Who made heaven and earth had condescended to ride into Jerusalem, “righteous and having salvation . . .  humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).  What a glorious picture of the One “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).  And so this donkey, when it came back to its owners, had now taken on an eternal significance.  In giving their possession to Christ for His use, their hearts were likely touched in ways that they couldn’t have imagined before that time.

And so it is with us and all God’s possessions of which we are His stewards, whether we realize it or not. Do you want your heart transformed? Do you want your mind lifted above the mundane to glorious and eternal things? Then be faithful stewards of what Jesus has given you. Be always ready to use what you have been given for Him in whatever way He might ask of you.  For you see, nothing you give to the King of kings is ever lost to you, for Jesus has promised to those who give to Him for His glory, “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).  And that treasure, unlike the treasures of this earth, will be “lay(ed) up for you . . . in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20).

Praise the name of the Lord!