Two days ago I posted an article telling you some of the funny, embarrassing things that have happened to me, I want to tell you one on my dad. Daddy had a good sense of humor and would get tickled at thing we said or did, but there was one thing that was never funny and that would be anything to do with his service to God! One story that breaks us up anytime we talk about it is something he said in his sermon one Palm Sunday back in the 60’s. Daddy was preaching the annual Palm Sunday message and you can’t preach that sermon without talking about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, or the colt of an ass, so he got to that part of the sermon and then it happened. His booming voice came across the pulpit and he said “Jesus rode into Jerusalem on His donker“… I knew that if I laughed out loud I was in serious trouble! I disappeared behind a songbook and the pew! Needless to say it wasn’t that funny to him! Through the years we never let him live that one down and anytime we had to say anything about a “donker” we did.
The other day I put a movie on to entertain my mother and the phrase “a mule in horses clothing” stood out to me as Mammy said to it to Scarlett, of course the movie was GWTW. It was Mammy’s description of the way Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler were acting, her way of saying they were “putting on airs”. I gave some thought to that, then Googled “mule”. I found that a mule is not such a bad thing to be. They are “more patient, sure-footed, hardy and long-lived than horses, and they are considered less obstinate, faster, and more intelligent than donkeys.” Mules can carry more than 30% of their own weight, and go far distances without having to eat. Mules don’t receive medals and ribbons for their sleek, shiny bodies, or for their ability to jump the high hurdles, they will never wear the wreath of roses at the Kentucky Derby, but if you need a reliable animal, one that can carry the burden, you call on the mule. I looked to see if the mule was mentioned in the Bible, I was sure I would find some reference, possibly in the Proverbs, but no, nothing. What I did find was the reference of the lowly donkey. This wonderful, dependable mule is the offspring of a male donkey, called an ass, or Jack (thus Jackass), and a female donkey, a Jenny. Their offspring less than a year old, if a male, is a colt and the female is a filly. In Numbers 22:22-25 But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the LORD Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road. Then the angel of the LORD stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again. Then the LORD gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.“ You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!” “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted. Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. This donkey was smart enough to see the Lord’s angel when his master was not. Then Matthew, Mark and Luke all recorded the story of Jesus asking the disciples to find the ass standing with a colt, He asked them to bring them to Him, they did, they put their clothes on his back and Jesus rode into Jerusalem to waving palm branches! This fulfilled the prophecy given in Zechariah chapter 9! Someone might ask, “What’s the significance?” Next time you’re called a jackass, take it as a compliment! You come from good, strong stock, and your ancestor lent his back to our Lord! What could be a better heritage than that? To be worthy to carry Jesus, that’s good! So I give blessings and a shout out to all us donkeys!
Harolene.com 