Choosing Correctly

The last few days have afforded us an interesting study in human nature. The lottery hit $640 million and people went wild. Faced with an infinitesimally small chance of winning, folks who had never played the lottery previously, defied all odds, rushed to convenience stores, and asked how to select their numbers. The nightly news carried interviews of such risk-takers. One man confessed, “I’d waste this $5 somewhere else, I might as well take a change on winning something with it.” Another said, “If I don’t buy a lottery ticket, I won’t have anything to talk about with my friends.” Appropriate to the timing – the week before Palm Sunday – one church countered with the following message on their sign: “Place your bets on the man riding the Donkey.” Indeed, as Jesus rode into Jerusalem that Sunday, palm branches were waved and hosannas were shouted. Against all odds, people were “betting” this man riding on a donkey was the Messiah. Of course, five days later, many of the same people were shouting “Crucify!” Such is human nature. Life, at best, is a bit of a gamble, made up of choices. Make the wrong choice and you pay for it. Make the correct choice and you “win.” I don’t know about you, but as we move toward celebrating the resurrection on Easter Sunday, I’m sure glad I chose the Man on the donkey (Zechariah 9:9) who won the victory, just like it was predicted. Hallelujah what a Savior!

Join me this week in praying for the following global concerns:
• Pray for an Easter party this week at a community center in Tokyo and for everyone who will use Easter as a means of ministry and witness.
• Pray for Mary this week as she participates in numerous Passover events among the Jewish communities in Russia.
• Pray for Lori and others who have been evacuated out of Mali in the face of a government take-over.
• Pray for Trey and Elise related to securing visas for the country of Slovakia.
• Pray for Eric as he develops new evangelism and discipleship materials to use with Thai nationals.