LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Unleashing the Colt
The Lord is living his last days as a servant on earth; he approaches Jerusalem, and sends two disciples to a nearby village to bring him a colt. The Lord gives them precise instructions: "If anyone says to you, Why do you do this? Say: The Lord has need of it" (Mark 11:3).
It is so curious and sobering that the Lord needed a colt! For a few hours, that animal "son of a beast of burden" fulfilled an important function in the Lord's ministry. Jesus needed a colt! A common and unattractive animal. An animal that no general would have used for a military review, was required by the Lord of lords.
This colt had, moreover, all the strength and the verve of one that had never been ridden before. He could have resisted. But he let himself be carried away, and accepted. All his bellicosity disappeared as he felt the Lord on his back. The creature recognized his Creator and submitted, docile, to him.
We have more than a passing resemblance to this colt. Like him, we are the children of a beast of burden, for we come from a fallen race, weary and weary, without horizon, for sin separated us from God. Like him, we were also bound for a long time, without any possibility of rendering any service, let alone being considered to serve God.
However, the Lord one day said: "Untie the colt", and then added: "Say that the Lord has need of it". Those words were not only referred to that colt: they also reached us, and then we were set free. What a great honor! It is as unusual that we can serve him, as it was unusual that a colt could serve the Lord that day in Jerusalem. If any child of God is still in bondage, let him know that the Lord has already set him free and that he requires it. The time of slavery is past, now is the time to make himself available for the King to occupy him.
However, there is one more lesson that that colt delivers to us. When it is time to serve the Lord, when he grants us the privilege of carrying him on our backs, strange things often happen.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the Bible says that as he passed by, they spread their cloaks, cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The people, rejoicing, shouted: "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!". In the face of such a euphoric manifestation, could the colt have thought -if he could have thought- that such expressions were in his honor? Can we imagine the colt speaking to Jesus in this way: "Do you hear what they say? I really am magnificent".
With sadness we must admit that many of God's servants come to think that the applause and cheers are for us, and then perhaps we are more foolish than the colt. However, thank God, in spite of this and at great risk, the Lord Jesus desires to be carried by us. Will we refuse? It is all our glory!