Sir, may we borrow your donkey?

On Saturday, I was driving with Katie to go shopping at the outlets. On the way there, for some reason this donkey in the field caught my attention. Katie was talking to me and I don't even remember what she was saying because I couldn't pay attention because I was zoned in on this donkey. Interesting right? Well, actually, it was.. when I got closer, I realized that not only was there a donkey in the field, there was actually a zebra. Yes, a zebra... in the middle of nowhereville Maryland... where it just snowed yesterday. Katie thought I was crazy until I pointed it out to her on the way back.

Anyway, with Easter a few days away, I've been reading the Easter story and thinking about all of the events that took place in just a few days. I think my life is stressful sometimes with the amount of events that take place on a day to day basis... but wow, a lot sure went on in three days.

Anyway, with this donkey incident in my mind, the part of the story where Jesus rides a donkey into Jerusalem really stuck out to me. Why a donkey? I don't really know. I mean, it seems kind of weird to me living in 2009 where you rarely see donkeys, but they weren't so uncommon then. Problem was, it wasn't Jesus' donkey that He rode in on. Not even one of His disciples. He just told the disciples to go fetch the donkey in town. The donkey belonged to someone... What would your reaction be if you were shopping downtown and came out to find these 2 strange men taking your car? And when you questioned them, their answer was "The Lord is in need"

Would you be willing? Would you say "Sure take it!"... or would it be more like "Um, I don't think so" Or... maybe you'd be willing... if you could be in the drivers seat. Something tells me that the story wouldn't have been the same had the owner of the donkey also been riding Jesus. haha. No, instead, the owner must've been okay with it (or the disciples were slick....... hmm, doubt it)

The owner probably had no idea that his donkey would be used for such a noble purpose... that the story of his donkey would be told for years to come.

We all have donkeys... something we have been given in our lives that we can use to move Jesus' story along the line. If God asks me for something, am I going to be selfish and keep it to myself? Or am I going to allow him to use my gift to carry Jesus to another place?