There’s someone I want to get to know.
I don’t know his name or what he looks like.
I only know one thing.
He gave a donkey to Jesus on the Sunday he entered
Jerusalem.
“Go to the town you can see there.
When you enter it, you will quickly find a donkey there with
its colt.
Untie them and bring them to me.
If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, say that
the
Master needs them, and he will send them at once.”
I have several questions for him.
How did you know it was Jesus who needed a donkey?
Did you have a vision? Did an angel appear in your bowl of
lentils?
Was it difficult to give something to Jesus for him to
use?
I want to ask that question because sometimes it’s hard for
me.
Sometimes when God wants something I act that I don’t know he
needs it.
How did it feel to look out and see Jesus on the back of a
donkey that lived in your barn?
Were you proud? Were you surprised? Were you annoyed?
Did you have an idea that your generosity would be used for
such a noble purpose?
Did it ever occur to you that God was going to ride on your
donkey?
Were you aware that all four gospel writers would tell your
story?
As I ponder yours, I ponder mine.
Sometimes I get the impression that God wants me to give him
something
and sometimes I don’t give it because I don’t know for
sure,
and then I feel bad because I have missed my chance.
Other times I knows he wants something and I don’t give it
because
I’m too selfish. And other times, too few times,
I hear him and I obey him and feel honoured that a gift of
mine
would be used to carry Jesus into another place. And still
other times
I wonder if my little deeds today will make a difference in
the long haul.
Maybe you have those questions, too.
All of us have a donkey.
You and I each have something in our lives, which, if given
back to
God, could, like the donkey, move Jesus and his story further
down the road.
Maybe you can sing or hug or programme a computer
or speak Swahili or write a book.
Whichever, that’s your donkey. Whichever, your donkey belongs
to him.
It really does belong to him. Your gifts are his, and the
donkey was his.
The original wording of the instructions Jesus gave to his
disciples is proof.
“If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkey, you are to
say:
“Its Lord is in need.”
