The Lord has need of you!

When we first come to Christ, we are struck with the reality of the incredible need we have of Him and His saving work; and it is true, we absolutely need Jesus, we always will! But as we begin to grow and mature in our Christian lives, we come to realize that not only do we need God, God needs us! God has made Himself vulnerable to us in some humbling, awe inspiring way. He is relying on us to preach the Gospel; to be His representatives, His body on the earth!

Now I’m not saying in any way that God is needy or that He is not all powerful and completely capable of doing anything and everything He needs to do in this world. He is! And yet in His wisdom, He has chosen to use us, He has need of us! To illustrate this point, I want to consider Luke’s account of the story of when Jesus came into Jerusalem, choosing to come in riding a young colt into the Holy City. Luke tells us this:

“After Jesus had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “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. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.” They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.” (Luke 19:28-36)

This was Jesus’ great moment! He had been ministering in all the surrounding areas and news about His ministry and the miracles He performed spread abroad throughout the region. Now He was about to enter Jerusalem; this was the great entrance into the Holy City! I’ve spent time in Jerusalem and there is certainly something very special about the place.

It’s the place where God ordered Abraham to bind his son Isaac for sacrifice, and where later David and Solomon built the central ritual structure of Judaism; the twice-destroyed temple that many Christians believe will be rebuilt before the second coming. It’s the place where Jesus and the saints of old walked. The place where the central story and message of the Christian faith unfolded. The place where the End Times will be orchestrated.

Jesus knew this moment was special, He had become something of a phenomenon in the nation of Israel, He could have entered with a great show, in a great Chariot with great pomp and circumstance and yet he had a different form of transportation in mind.

Jesus always did what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19) In that moment the Father showed Him a vision of a colt tied up in the village ahead. I believe this colt represents us as people. Before the foundation of the world Jesus saw you and me, and He had a plan for our lives, He chose us (Ephesians 1:4) He had a plan to use us for His Kingdom purposes!

There was nothing special or fancy about this colt. The Bible does not say it was a Champion pedigreed racehorse or a great warhorse. No, it says it was a simple colt. God delights in choosing “the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; He chooses the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 2:17). This colt was like the humble manger and stable Jesus was born in. Jesus is so awesome and altogether glorious all by Himself, He doesn’t need any fancy trimmings to demonstrate that.

The other thing about this colt was that it was available. I’ve heard some preachers say God is not always looking for your ability, but your availability. He does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called! This colt was not being utilized, it was ready to be used here, it was not qualified as a form of transport. It was unbroken, untrained, and had no experience carrying someone as famous or as important as Jesus.

God chose that colt. Sometimes it’s not about us, its about God’s choosing of us that makes what we do for Him significant. What a great honor for this colt to be used in this way. We also have to bear in mind that this colt could have bucked Jesus off; no one had ever ridden it before. I have to believe that as Jesus approached this colt, something of His majesty, awesomeness and power tamed the unbroken wildness of that colt in a moment of time.

In our lives we can look to change our nature, we can have the best training, but it’s only the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, through submission to the Lordship of Christ that true change can take place; that our very nature can be transformed! That colt carried Jesus into the Holy City. It carried the weight of His presence. In a similar way, God calls us to carry the weight of His glory; the presence and power of Jesus into the towns and cities of a lost and dying world.

I remember many years ago as an accountant, I was in a Church service, I was overshadowed by God’s presence and a tremendous encounter with Gods power took place. At the close of His message, the Pastor called me to the front of the Church, they had to carry me because I could not walk. I remember how he had me stop when I was half way to the front and the glory of God shook that place. I was not in the ministry at that point and God used a lowly accountant to carry His glory into that Church and release His power in that place. And God wants to use you the same way.

Now Jesus said “Tell the owner the Lord has need of it” When they came to untie the colt, the owner asked “Why are you untying it?” This was an issue of ownership. It was an issue of Lordship. By some miracle, the owner did not exercise his right to keep the donkey. The Bible does not say that the owner had heard of Jesus. When he heard the words “The Lord has need of it.” all we know is that in that moment, the owner relinquished his rights and ownership of the colt and recognized that something or someone more powerful than Him was exercising their rights to the use of that animal.

This is how it is when Jesus chooses us. The Bible says “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit–fruit that will last–and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” (John 15:16) When we respond to the gospel, and choose to accept Christ’s offer of salvation, we are responding to His choice of us. At that moment all prior ownership over our lives is broken, we are transferred to a new Kingdom.

We are transferred from the ownership of the enemy and the kingdom of darkness and now have a new owner, the King of the Kingdom of God! At the point of salvation all the rights of ownership the enemy has over our lives are broken. The enemy has no legal right to influence any area of our lives and we need to be those who remind him of that!

2 Corinthians 4:7 tells us “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” Today I want to encourage you, the Lord has need of you! You are in the Kingdom of God for a reason. He wants you to carry the weight of His glory. It’s all about Him but He has chosen you! What an honor and a privilege to be chosen by God to carry such an amazing treasure, the wonderful presence of Jesus!

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