LUKE 19:28-44
‘As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.”’ (v. 33-34).
How would you have reacted? Imagine you came outside your home and two men are getting ready to drive away in your car, on your bike, or whatever means of transportation you might own. You very likely would have reacted like the owners of the donkey and asked, ‘What are you doing?’ I know I would, and I probably would have been not just a little bit agitated.
The real question, though, is not what our reaction would be to someone taking our car or bike, but what our reaction would be as the men answered our initial question. The two disciples untying the colt looked at the owners and replied, as Jesus had instructed them, that ‘The Lord needs it.’ Amazingly, when the owners heard this they just let the disciples go with the colt.
A more natural reaction would have been to begin asking questions. We tend not to want to say outright ‘No’ to the Lord, even if that is what you want to. Instead, we begin to question: Are you sure the Lord meant this colt? How can I be sure you will bring it to the Lord? Does it need to be now? How can I know it is the Lord saying this? You can add your own questions, but more often than not they are just excuses for not being obedient, a subtle way of avoiding to let Jesus have his way. Not so with the owners of the colt, they let the disciples take the colt without any questions or apparent reluctance.
Theologically we might understand that we have nothing that we have not been given, nothing that does not already belong to the Lord and we might even sing ‘Take my silver, take my gold’, but how will we react when it becomes reality, when someone begins “to untie the colt”?
To pray: Lord, help me hold all my possessions lightly and at your disposal. May I, whenever you need me or mine, freely let you have your way.