Stay Alert

Matthew 26:36-45 ~

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Jesus, about to be handed over to His accusers, goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He takes his closest friends with Him so they can be in prayer with Him. Instead, they fall fast asleep as He agonizes over what He knows is coming.

His comment to them, "Couldn't you keep watch with me for even one hour?" struck a chord with me today. How often do I give in to what I feel rather than doing what I know I should be doing?

It is so easy to put off prayer or reading God's word or even just reading a few words because we think we are too busy. We can easily ignore what God is calling us to do because we'd rather do what we want to do. We often fall victim to the tyranny of the urgent instead of spending time doing what really matters in the Kingdom. 

And before I get too self-righteous and start pointing the finger, I can be just as guilty of this as anyone else. As I read this passage this morning I felt as if Jesus was looking straight at me and asking me, "Can't you even pray for 15 minutes without letting your mind wander?" "Can't you focus on me long enough to hear what I have to say?"

It's Good Friday and the day when we contemplate on the sacrifice Christ made for us. I don't want to just think about it though. I want the weight of that sacrifice to permeate every part of my life. I want to stay alert and allow Christ's heartbeat be the same as my heartbeat. 

His sacrifice was monumental. Is He not worth my sacrifice in return?