The Lord has Need of It

I was reading through Mark 9 to 12 this morning, and the episode at the beginning of Mark 11 caught my eye. Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem. He sends his disciples ahead of him to get a colt for him to ride on. He tells them that if anyone asks why they are taking this colt, they should reply, "The Lord has need of it." So the disciples do as Jesus asked, and they find the colt just as Jesus said. As they are untying it, some bystanders - the owners perhaps? - ask what they are doing. They reply as Jesus instructed them too, and the bystanders let them take the colt.

I thought about those bystanders. I thought about the unnamed owner of that colt. We know so little about them - not even their names. We don't know what they did for a living. We don't know if they were regular followers of Jesus or whether they were just mildly interested in the events of the day. We don't know whether they were well-liked in the community or people with a dubious reputation. We know nothing about them. They could have been anyone.

But whoever they were, the grace of God visited them in a particular way. And they were asked to participate in the work of God. They were not asked to get behind a microphone and share their testimony. They were not asked to sing. They were not asked to be part of a worship service. They were not even asked to come witness Jesus riding into Jerusalem. They were simply asked to share something they possessed. And the reason they were given for doing so was, "the Lord has need of it." You don't have to be a hero of the faith to contribute greatly to the work of God! The generosity of an unnamed, unknown donkey owner was a key piece of Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.

This makes me appreciate the quiet, behind-the-scenes working of God. How many people does he ask daily to share in his work? We may know nothing about them. He may be asking them to participate in unusual ways - not up front, not in the spotlight, not with their name on the program, but behind-the-scenes. Who knows who these people might be? It could be anyone.

It could be you.

It could be me.

We are asked to share something of our own for a purpose beyond our understanding. The reason he gives is, "the Lord has need of it," and our generosity may be the key contribution to some great event in the Kingdom of God.

What does the Lord need from you today?