Jesus uses this story to teach us that when we hear about the miracle of God's love he expects that our lives will bloom and grow, bearing beautiful fruits of the spirit such as kindness, love, and joy. It is expected that we will want to share the fruits of God's love so that others can enjoy and benefit from that love.

The lesson, then, is that we receive God's love, share it with others, and when we do that we are giving that love back to God - producing beautiful fruit for the kingdom of God.

A person of authority has the power to direct the actions of others. In other words, a person with authority has the power to tell others what to do. That person decides what needs to be done and expects others to follow those directions. We can say that the person with authority is the person who is in charge. Can you think of examples of "in charge" people?

Suppose your mother asked you to wash the dishes and you said, "No," but later decided to do it. Now suppose that your mother asked your younger sister to wash the dishes and she said, "Yes," but didn't do the work. What do you think? Which child did what the mother asked? Yes, the first child eventually did the dishes.

There is a lesson for us in this story. Let's think about what it might be. Although Jesus could have ridden at the front of the parade on the finest horse or in a fancy carriage, he chose to ride on a donkey. The story teaches us that Jesus did not want to be honored as a special person, but to be thought of as an ordinary man. He wanted everyone to know that he had come to help and serve others. There we find the lesson.