No, the little colt is NOT the main focus of this event by any means. But whom He carried was the biggest deal of all.
I don’t know about you, but I love Easter. And not because of the bunnies and eggs, but because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I grew up in the church, “knowing” the story but thankfully I find myself still learning more and more about the holy week each year.
Most recently I was looking through Jenny Marrs’ Instagram stories. (She is on “Fixer to Fabulous” on HGTV and we just walked through the homes from “Rock the Block” here outside of Charleston.). Anyways, they have a farm out in Arkansas and post pictures of their animals a lot. (I love it!) Recently she had shared some posts from someone else regarding the colt Jesus sat on as He rode into Jerusalem. She mentioned how that was indeed the first miracle of that day. I have never thought of that before. Mark 11:1-7 says,
“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.”
When we read the story together tonight as a family, the second part of verse two stood out to me as it plainly says, “a colt..on which no one has ever sat.” I’m not a farmer, but my Opa was and I know he had some stubborn animals from time to time. The Marrs’ family has a donkey and just talked about how much a colt would fight if someone tried to sit on them. Yet Jesus was able to sit on an untamed colt and ride it into the city….with all of the people shouting “Hosanna!” But I shouldn’t be shocked by this. He is the Almighty Creator! All creation obeys Him. He was also born in a stable. Surrounded by animals. There seems to be a recurring theme here…
Riding on a donkey symbolized peace at this time. Even though Jesus knew what was coming, and how He would be treated, He still entered the city in peace. After all, He is the Prince of Peace.
He wanted to ride in on a lowly animal because not only did it fulfill the prophecy, but it was much more common. Christ was humbled once again…to riding into town on a donkey and later being put to death on a cross for MY sins.
So next time I read the story, I will smile thinking of Jesus having an understanding with this colt and basically giving him the biggest job of all time. Carrying the Savior of the world to the tree that He would die upon. The Holy One, put to death for sinners. Thankfully we know that is NOT the end of the story and I am so thankful for Easter Sunday, the day we celebrate His resurrection from the grave.
No, the little colt is NOT the main focus of this event by any means. But whom He carried was the biggest deal of all. The Savior of the World, the Prince of Peace.
I was never the popular kid at school. I was never in the “cool” group of kids in the elementary and middle school I attended. In fact, many of the so called “popular” kids either acted like I didn’t exist, or were plain mean to my face. It was middle school though and I am sure many of these people are totally amazing human beings now. We were all fighting our own battles and figuring out what place we had on this earth. I do not hold judgment against them. I know I wasn’t always kind either. I could have and should have done a LOT of things better as well. But middle school is just a weird time for everyone. I was blessed with braces and glasses simultaneously and had some major seagull bangs going on. I was just a mess of awkward. I switched schools after ninth grade, went to a different high school, and made some really great friends. I was thankful for the switch even though I was initially terrified. But even in college, I wasn’t “cool.” I had plenty of amazing friends though and that’s all that mattered to me.
So this whole popular thing. I realize I have never really been popular nor is it a goal of mine. I am who I am. You see what you get. I spend most of my time trying to be more authentic and real. Give me real over popular any day of the week. I have been loved and I have been hated by so called Christians. I admit that sometimes it is easier for me to hang out with my dogs than people. None of my three pups judge me.
I realize as I get older and now have children of my own how I do not need to be popular. My children do not need to be popular. My faith and values are not necessarily popular, either. In fact, many of them may be considered controversial even. Scripture is not “progressive”. It does not change with the times. It remains the same, and this should be a comfort to us. But some people think it is old fashioned, unloving and just not popular.
So when I teach my kids what’s important, I don’t think I will tell them that being popular is important. Because it really isn’t. In fact, doing what’s unpopular can be what is actually true and right. Sadly, true and right are not the equivalent of cool in our current culture. And many may be shocked by this statement but we don’t have to agree with someone to show them kindness, love and respect.
I watched an awesome video of a young man helping out his teammate with Down syndrome on the basketball court. He could have easily shot a goal, but instead he handed the ball to his fellow teammate and helped him score a basket. He cared more about his friend having the experience of shooting a goal and gaining points for the team than he did about scoring the points himself. It was completely selfless but so long lasting and impactful for the child with special needs. I wish more of our world was like this. This is what should be popular.
I hope that I can carry the theme of standing up for what is true and right on to my children. That even when the popular kids are making fun of the kid with glasses, or the kid with disabilities, to be different and invite those children to sit with them at lunch. That even when the popular kids want to be reckless, that my children will want to remain above reproach. Even if this means they will be deemed “unpopular.” We need to remember there is a ton of false teaching out there, even in churches today. But that God’s Word stands the test of time. It is infallible. What God says is what He means. And Christ never asked us to be popular. He tells us to come as we are. Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). What a promise! And speaking of popular, Jesus had a following of twelve sinners. Just twelve. In the end, the majority still chose Barabbas who was a criminal to be released from prison over pardoning Jesus.
I hope and pray that I will stand up for what is right, and that my children will as well. That we will not “progress” with the times because people think badly of us if we don’t conform to what is mainstream. I can only pray we will remain faithful to what is TRUE and righteous. I definitely need the Lord’s help with this though. Going against the mainstream isn’t easy. It seems like we are swimming uphill sometimes. But God.
I have a feeling I will be clinging to this Scripture verse over these next several years: Philippians 1:6 which says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Have you ever told a lie? If you have children, have they ever told a falsehood or two? We are all human, and so the chances are that at some point in your life, you may have told a lie. Now whether that was a little white lie, a medium sized lie or a big fat doozy of a lie doesn’t really matter here. A lie is a lie. How about those lies of omission? You know. When we leave out parts of the truth. Eeeesh. I might have done that a time or two. (See what I did there?)
And no, I am not going to talk about difficult or extreme situations when it’s okay or safer to lie, because that’s just not the point of this blog post or what was going on in my personal world this week. So I won’t be going there today.
So, when my child tells a falsehood again, it frustrates me. How many times have we been over this, right? It is not okay to lie. Repeat after me, child. Haha! Do you ever feel like a broken record? I know I do. We all have our sins that we struggle with, and they are all equally yucky. I am so thankful the Lord doesn’t see me like someone calling the forgiveness hotline again, and say…oh gosh it’s her again…asking forgiveness for thatsin...again…when will she ever learn? I don’t think I can take her call today. She’s reached her forgiveness limit on that one. No, He gets up early and waits for my call. And cannot wait to talk to me. And He forgives me AGAIN. And again. And again….
We want our hearts to change, and for our children to seek the Lord not only for forgiveness but the repentance part, too. The turning away part. That last step seems to be the hardest for me as well.
My husband said something profound the other evening. At least it was profound for me. He mentioned the fact that we should be “lovers of truth.” Instead of pointing out the sin to avoid (in this instance, lying), he stated what our hearts should be seeking instead (a.k.a. truth). And this was like an ‘aha’ moment for me. We should absolutely love truth so much that we exude truth. We want to seek truth. We want to be around truth, and share truth. We should want to be in the light so much that when darkness creeps in, we run! Run out of the shadows of sin and lies.
Satan is a big fat liar, and I realize how much he lies to me on a daily basis. Take this morning for example. I was at an orthodontist appointment with one of my children. I hadn’t eaten a lot, I was in a new medical facility, my husband wasn’t with me and I was out and about in a new place. Any one of these things can be a trigger for my anxiety at any given moment. (Many of you probably know by now that I have an anxiety disorder, and I do take medicine to keep my seratonin levels in check. And no, I am not saying anxiety and panic are sins so please don’t read that wrong.) But Satan loves to use my anxiety to tell me I am weak, that I cannot do something on my own or that I will fail. And sometimes I have to mentally tell myself that NO, I will not let panic take over! I am strong. I can do this. I will not listen to the lies of the evil one. Nope. Not today, Satan. (I think I need that shirt.) And guess what? The panic and fear stopped. God was like…. this is my daughter whom I love and we aren’t doing this today. (I was so thankful.) It doesn’t always turn out this way, but I knew my daughter needed me and I could not be in a panic state. And I wasn’t going to let the lies take over.
I used this as an example the other evening when explaining truth and false: What if I said the American flag was red, white and turquoise? Well, the red and white part are correct. And turquoise is allllmost a blue shade, right? So that’s pretty close. But if you saw that as a test question, and had to choose True or False, which would be the correct answer? False, of course! If any statement or even part of the statement we read is false, it makes the entire statement false. Even a tiny part that’s almost true. Yikes.
In this day and age, finding truth may be one of the most difficult tasks at hand. Our leaders lie to us. The media lies to us. Hollywood lies to us. There are pastors out there lying to their congregations. There are lies literally everywhere we turn. So seeking and finding truth is a much more difficult thing to do, especially for this next generation. But I know someone who literally IS truth. And yes, that is Jesus. He cannot lie. What a relief!!!
Our pastor is going through the book of Romans and challenged us in one of his recent sermons. He asked if we are ashamed of truth. He reminded us that the Bible is not politically correct, and that it can “offend” people in our world today. It doesn’t go along with the new “normal”.
I know that Scripture is not necessarily “cool”, and it is definitely not “tolerant.” While so many people tell us to “empty our minds” in order to “be still”, or have peace, the Bible teaches us to fill our minds with what is true, right and holy. As Philippians 4:8 tells us, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Yes, I am told to love everyone like Jesus loves, but I am not told to tolerate and agree with everything someone says or does. I wore a sweatshirt the other day that said “Mom of Both.” (I have a boy and a girl, which is what this cute sweatshirt was sharing.) A guy at a sports store told me I was making a bold statement wearing that sweatshirt in our world today. And sadly, he was right. And I let him know that yes, I do believe in having and owning the gender God gave us, and I am unashamed of this belief.
Guess what? A lot of people hated Jesus because He unashamedly spoke truth. So this is not an easy road for me or my child to walk. So I need to pray to not only be lovers of truth, but also for the strength to stand up for what is true…and to recognize the difference between true and false. If you are agreeing with everything happening in our world today, there may be a problem. If your church is only preaching about cultural issues and failing to open up God’s word on any given Sunday, there is definitely a problem.
So yes, I get disappointed when I feel like a broken record parent. But this gave me a new prayer to pray over my kids. Over my marriage. Over our lives in general. May we seek truth, love truth, and share truth with others. May we love truth so much that the lies of the evil one have no space to mess around. May we love truth so much that when we are told a lie, we recognize it from a mile away. May the truth found in Scripture be the truth I seek each and every day. May the Bible be my litmus test for truth. And may that be the truth that guides my family and myself each and every day.
John 14:6 says, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'”
Mom About Charleston 