Greetings, dear ones.
Rain is expected, but I don’t think it’s coming down at present. I’ll be out there to find out in a few minutes. I want to do my little old man jog before preparing to return to my sawmill. Not sure yet how much this customer wants me to do.
I kind of like my processing of this passage way back in 2010. So I’m snatching that piece from the archives and sticking it on below. Just to offer the context from The Passion Translation, here it is: “Now, as they were approaching Jerusalem they arrived at the place of the stables near the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead, saying, ‘As soon as you enter the village, you will find a donkey tethered along with her young colt. Untie them both and bring them to me. And if anyone stops you and asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just tell them ‘The Lord of All needs them, and he will let you take them’” (Matthew 21:1-3, TPT).
Be assured that everything happened exactly as Jesus had said. Also take note of what happened next. “So the two disciples went on ahead and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and her colt to him and placed their cloaks and prayer shawls on the colt, and Jesus rode on it” (vv. 6-7, TPT). Can you imagine any normal person climbing on the back of an unbroken horse (or donkey) and riding it without mishap?—without going airborne? It’s just another little demonstration of His divinity.
Have a blessed rest of your day. Ray.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could hold conversation with Jesus everyday and have Him give specific and detailed guidance for our day? “Be in your car at 9:40am. Travel to the Salem K-Mart and park in the NW corner of the lot. As soon as you turn off your engine at 10:17am you will be approached by a blue Volkswagen beetle convertible driven by a fat lady in a tight yellow dress who will…..” And by virtue of His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence, He not only details everything beforehand, but actually makes it all happen precisely as He said as long as you follow the instructions. It would certainly take a lot of the question marks and uncertainties out of living.
On the other hand, maybe it wouldn’t be all that great. For one thing, such a lifestyle would transform us into remote-controlled robots rather than free moral agents. It would help us become good note-takers with attention to details, but would remove from us our God-given functions of objective reasoning, creativity, and choices. I think it would also freak us out if we actually knew beforehand all that God was intending to do and use in our lives toward training us to be effective Kingdom representatives according to His sovereign will.
In regards to this last thought, take note of the fact that God very rarely prescribes such guidance. It is only on very special and specific occasions…as we have in this passage. Instead He more often leaves us with very general guidelines: “Love me…seek me…come unto me…believe in me…cast your cares on me…follow me.” And He says His Word “is a lamp to our feet and light to our path” (Ps. 119:105)…not a 40-trillion-candle-power spot light to see 16 miles down life’s road. In the life course He has marked out for us we are only required to take one faith-step at a time.
I believe the most important thing for me to grasp in these few words is the fact that the One we are loving and seeking and serving IS indeed omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful), and omnipresent (everywhere present). He knows the end from the beginning. He may not give us any advance warning or disclose any of the details…but HE KNOWS! And if I know that He knows, I know I need to find a way to maintain that knowing. He knows that this is all I need to know. Do you know what I mean?