Thought for August 20, 2024

  •  1619: First known slaves arrive in America at Fort Monroe Virginia
  • 1741: Vitus Bering sights Alaska
  • 1866: President Johnson declares War Between the States over
  • 1882: Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" premiers in Moscow
  • 1920: American Professional Football Association forms with Jim Thorpe as president--later NFL
  • 1940: Churchill says of the Royal Air Force, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." I think he is wrong--that quote applies to the cross. 
  • 2000: Tiger Woods wins third major in 2000, PGA
  • Born: Benjamin Harrison, Isaac Hayes, Amy Adams, Andrew Garfield, Demi Lovato, Robert Plant, Jim Reeves, Al Roker, Paul Tillich [theologian who wrote "Systematic Theology", "The Courage to Be", and "Dynamics of Faith"]
  • Died: Phyllis Diller, Jerry Lewis, Elmore Leonard
Thought:
Take a look with me at Mark 11:3 this morning. This is part of the story about Jesus sending disciples to get a colt for the entry into Jerusalem. This is a crazy mission. Think about it:
  • Jesus has walked or gone by boat wherever He went with the disciples. Now He asks about a colt to ride. I wonder if the disciples asked why a colt was needed. Reminds me that I put Jesus into a box I have created--He always does things this way, or He always works this way. Then, Jesus breaks all my preconceptions and does something in a way I would have never thought about or considered. Lord, let me be like the disciples. They may not have understood, but they followed Your command.
  • Why didn't Jesus ask for a white stallion? If I was a disciple back then and was sent to get a colt for Jesus to ride on, I might be asking why not a big white horse suitable for the King of kings. Even today, I ask why Jesus doesn't do something spectacular in the world to demonstrate His power and glory. But the Savior is humble, comes as the Lamb of God, the Prince of Peace. One day He will come in glory, but not this time.
  • The disciples were sent to get someone else's colt. Jesus does not say "go see a man about a colt." He says you will find a colt tied up, bring it to Me. In Texas, they might call that being a horse thief. But here we see the truth that Jesus owns everything by right of creation. We and others are merely stewards entrusted with His colt. I need to learn this truth repeatedly--it is not mine, it is His.
Today I am stuck on verse 3--If anyone asks why you are doing this, say the Lord has need of it. Think about what that means for me today. If I am loving and someone asks why--the Lord needs me to be loving. If I am forgiving and someone asks why or how--the Lord wants me to. Do I give Him the credit and the glory for any good thing I say or do? Or I may turn it around and say, can I say the Lord sent me to do and say this to everything I do and say today? What if the Lord's wishes, commands, and needs were the answer to everything I do today? I think I'll try and see how that works out. 

One last thing, after the entry into Jerusalem, what happened to the colt? How did its owner respond? Did he offer pony rides on the colt Jesus rode? Sometimes after I allow Jesus to use His property for His glory, I decide to try and redirect some of the glory and honor to me. Forgive me Lord--for thine is the kingdom and the glory and the power forever.

Blessings
Larry 

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