6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and He sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before Him and that followed Him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” ~ Matthew 21:6-9
When Jesus came riding in on a donkey, the people made sure not even the donkey’s hooves touched the ground by throwing down their own cloaks and cutting down palm branches so the donkey could walk over. The disciples put their cloaks on the donkey so that Jesus could sit on it. They made sure that nothing dirty touched the Messiah or the donkey the Messiah rode.
Today, the Church doesn’t have this same respect for Jesus. We want Jesus in our hearts, but we allow any kind of filth to enter in. We expect Jesus to dwell in filth. We then justify this by saying that God is love. Jesus loves everybody. Sure, both of these statements are true, but God is a righteous God. Jesus is the King of kings and LORD of lords, so how can we expect Him to dwell with all that He hates? If God is righteous, how can we expect Him to dwell in unrighteousness? Our love, respect, and reverence for God have vastly grown dim over the last few decades.
There was a time when we may not have understood or even agreed, but we at least had respect for the Word of God. Today, we condemn the True Gospel when it’s preached. We twist and manipulate the Scriptures as we justify our sin. Those of Jesus’ day took off their very cloaks so that the donkey He was on didn’t touch the ground; we today don’t love God enough to even call sin sin.
Dear LORD, please soften my heart. Remove all the filth from my life. Deliver me from all of the sins I have grown accustomed to indulging. Teach me to hate sin and love righteousness. Help me to not make excuses for myself or others so that we may indulge in our sinful desires. Cleanse my heart, oh God, that it may a heart after Your own heart, like Your servant, David. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
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