Will You Be My Donkey?
Donkeys! Donkeys!! Donkeys!!! This is the issue on my mind today.
Donkeys
are animals that feature very prominently in the Bible. In the Old
Testament, we read about the fact that Abraham and his son rode on the
donkey on their way to the mountain of God when he was going to
sacrifice Isaac. And of Samson who killed thousands of Philistines with a
donkey’s jawbone, we also read of the famous talking donkey on which
Balaam road and who saved him from certain death. Also, King Saul had
gone to look for his father’s donkeys, when he met Samuel who anointed
him as king, and our Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey - one
which had been saddled up waiting for him.
In
Bible Times, donkeys were a popular mode of transportation. Various
kinds of people from ordinary men to kings rode on donkeys. Donkeys were
also used as a way of estimating or depicting a person’s wealth.
For
many months I thought about the symbolism of donkeys in the Bible but
try as I might, I was unable to come to a consensus that would tie the
significance of donkeys together under one principle.
Well
rightly so some would say that they are only animals, why go looking
for principles? Yes, they are only animals, but as with everything in
the Word of God, there is always some sort of significance inferred when
certain objects or subjects are used or referenced repeatedly.
However,
in the most unlikely of places - having lunch with friends, (no we were
not eating donkey meat) it suddenly hit me! Donkeys were beasts of
burden, modes of transportation in Bible times and even at times weapons
of war as in the case of Samson. From what I could understand, donkeys
represented carriers, Weapons, or tools that were used that had no clean
to importance apart from helping to bring glory, honor, and salvation
to whoever used them. And one of the major things that characterized the
presence of donkeys and the Bible is the fact that even though they
were major players in the situations in which they featured, they were
never the objects of, participants of, or recipients of any of the glory
and accolades accorded to the people who had used them, even though
they were used for their good.
And
in all of this, the question that came to me was: "do I want to be a
donkey?" And my first answer was a resounding no! I do not want to be a
donkey. I do not want to be the one who will bring about good,
salvation, and riches without being a participant. And even though my
answer sounded good to me, it felt wrong and did not really sit well
with me. Then as I thought about it more, the question came to me in
another way. This time I heard The Lord say to my heart “do you want to
be a donkey for me? Do you want to be one whom I will use for my name,
for my fame, and for my glory? Would you be the one who will carry me
wherever I want you to like the donkey I rode into Jerusalem? Will you
be a weapon of warfare in my hand, like the donkey’s jawbone in
Sampson's hand? Will you be the one who will see what no one else sees
and who will declare my counsel to save men’s lives, like the donkey did
for Balaam? Will you be the one whom I will use as my herd in man’s
search for the anointed king as I did when Samuel anointed Saul as king?
Will you be my donkey? For better for worse, for richer for poorer, in
sickness and in health, till Life do us unite?”
Will You Be My Donkey?
My answer was a resounding "yes! Yes!! Yes!!! I will be your donkey!"
Yes, I will be your donkey. I will be any donkey that you want me to be in any form that you want me to be from this day forward, I pledge my troth to you… I will be your donkey! And we live victoriously, joyously, sacrificially, lovingly and committed now and forever more. Amen.
© AdePero Mettabel, 02.24.17.
