GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 11-2

What Do You Desire?
   The historian records the story of Naaman, a powerful general suffering from leprosy. When he came to the prophet Elisha seeking healing, Elisha told him to bathe in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman stormed away, reasoning that there were better rivers and that the prophet could have simply waved his hand over the afflicted spots to heal him (2 Kings 5).
   Naaman is like many followers of Christ who believe God wants them to do something greater than the task at hand. One writer was disappointed that his books did not sell as well as he had hoped; after his death, however, they gained popularity and sold widely. He had simply laid a foundation. Many workers feel their talents are not being used to their full potential, not realizing they may be laying one as well.
   As Jesus approached Jerusalem, Mark wrote, “And when they came near to Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, and he said to them, “Go into the village which is before you, and as soon as you enter into it, you will find a colt tied up, upon which no man has yet sat. Lose it and bring.’” (Mark 11:1-2)
   Go fetch a donkey? Surely there were better things to do—people to be saved, people to be healed, lessons to be taught, wrongs made right, and kingdoms to be built. And the two disciples—whoever they were—were sent to fetch a donkey? Is that right?
   One lesson emerges from this event: whatever He asks to be done in His name is never insignificant. Previously, Jesus had told these same disciples that even giving a cup of water in his service was not insignificant. (Mark 9:41-42)

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