Mark 11:1-11

Be Still:
Lord, help me to be still before you. Help me to listen. Help me to receive. I ask you to transform my heart and my mind as I choose to spend this time with you today. Amen.

Read: Mark 11:1-11


If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ (v3)

Encounter:
As Jesus prepares to enter Jerusalem, he asks his disciples to untie a young donkey and bring it to him. He knew there would be questions, so he gives them simple words to respond with: ‘The Lord needs it.’

I think this moment is both ordinary and profound. Ordinary, because it’s about borrowing an animal for a ride. Profound, because it shows us the way Jesus chooses to involve his followers in God’s unfolding plan. He could have summoned angels or found another way, but instead he invited his disciples to trust and obey in something as small as finding a donkey.

And the phrase ‘The Lord needs it’ is striking. The Creator of the universe, who owns everything, chooses to need something from us. Our willingness, our obedience, our offering. What the disciples borrowed seemed small and insignificant, yet it played a part in one of the most important moments in history: the King entering Jerusalem.

Sometimes God’s requests of us may seem small or strange – a conversation with a neighbour, an act of generosity, a prayer for someone we hardly know. But in God’s hands, even simple obedience becomes part of something greater.

Apply:
Ask yourself today: What is the Lord asking of me right now? Is there something he ‘needs’ me to release, to offer, or to do in faith? Trust that no act of obedience is too small when it’s given to him.

Devote:
Lord, thank you that you choose to work through ordinary people and simple acts of obedience. Help me to respond quickly when you ask something of me. Teach me to hold everything I have with open hands, so that when you ask, my answer will always be 'yes'.