Giddy up for Christ

Luke 19:28-38
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

The Bible tells us that Jesus sent two of His disciples to find a colt that had never before been ridden, and bring it to Him. After securing the animal, they saddled him with their coats, and this is the colt that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that fateful day.

Up the narrow streets the little donkey went, clippty-clop, clippty-clop, straight to the gate of Jerusalem. Along the way was a festive crowd spreading their coats and palm branches and yelling (shouting) "Hosannah! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosannah in the highest!"
And so it was that Jesus entered a bright, sunny, and happy Jerusalem. In the distance, however, stood Golgotha, the hill of the crosses, soon to be shrouded in darkness and tears.

But there is another part to the Biblical account that yet speaks in forceful language to us today. It is about the little colt that carried on his back Jesus. Now this little donkey is very interesting, and it seems to me that he also carries on his back some important lessons for us today.

The Donkey Was Available
The donkey was available.
He was ready to be used.

Jesus knew the colt was there when He sent his disciples to that particular place.
When the disciples told the colt's owner that the Master had need of the donkey, the owners let him go. Now Mark and Luke’s account tells us that no man had ever ridden the colt. He was unbroken, untamed, and untrained.

The colt could have balked, sat down, and refused to budge, like donkeys do, but he did not. The colt willingly went with the disciples. He was available.
How many of us are truly available to the Lord? How many of us are willing to place the cares, worries, troubles of the world on our back so that they may know Jesus?
Christ tells us in the Bible, “To pick up our crosses daily” (Luke 9:23) and do what?

Hide it under a bushel? NO!
Throw it in the closet? NO!
Put it in the trunk of the car? NO!

Jesus says in Luke 9:23 to “Pick up your cross daily – and follow Him!
Are you available to be what God calls you to be and work as God calls you to work. We must be like this colt and be available. Not pew sitting, staying home, going to events. We need to be giving God and his church His time.

Too many times we act like what a normal donkey colt would have acted like. When God tells us to do something or the church asks us to help out – we baulk, stay seated, and hee haw hee haw! Which means grumble under our breath. The price for you has been paid and now it is time to help others see this Good News and find hope in Christ. We grumble about giving one hour to the Lord each week. When if you think about it – if you give him 10% of your time in a week – you owe 16.8 hours and we complain about giving him the one hour from 11:00 to 12:00 noon. Let’s all become available to Christ and His mission in the church; to make disciples so the people of this world can see there is still hope as seen in our availability to carry the load Christ needs us to carry.

Are you available to get up or should I say, “Giddy Up for Christ.” Start doing that today. I believe you will be blessed even more in this life when you do.