36Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 40Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” 42Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken awayg unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. 44So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!” (Matthew 26:36-46 NLT)
The Lord, our Savior prayed three times – three times – for his burden to be lifted; for the cup of suffering to be taken from Him. Can we just stop and absorb the power of this? We worry and we fret over the smallest of things. We are conditioned in our culture to live in drama and immerse ourselves in minutia and other things that just don’t matter. We cannot see the forest for the trees in most instances – even in our churches, which are replete with petty scandals, gossip, and small time politics. We claim our allegiance to Jesus Christ and we profess our submission to Holy Spirit – but we provide only lip service to these commands – even though we have Jesus, the Christ of God, God incarnate demonstrating for us these very sentiments and these very acts. The salvation of humankind hangs in the balance of His choices over the next 24 hours and He is aware of that. He is also aware that He is about to receive the punishment that is truly intended for all people. He is aware of the pain, the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain that is about to beset his earthly existence – yet He submits. Can you get your head around that? Well try.
We complain about our jobs and our homes and our food and our kids and our, well, everything, and we think that God isn’t listening to our problems when He decides to simply allow us to work it out. We pray, “Let Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But do we really want that? I hope so; but wanting that may mean “wanting” something that we have never even dreamed of for our lives. I have experienced even in this vocation people who have claimed submission to Christ and then when Christ actually moved them from their spot – they jump off the boat so fast – either to go back and “do church” the man-made way or they leave the ministry altogether.
This stuff is real folks. Good and evil are real. God and Satan are real; and there is an ongoing battle for your soul and for the souls of every single person that you know – and don’t know. Pray for submission. Pray that God’s will be done in your life; and then have the courage to trust Him. It is not easy, but it is truly the definition of abundant life.
The Lord, our Savior prayed three times – three times – for his burden to be lifted; for the cup of suffering to be taken from Him. Can we just stop and absorb the power of this? We worry and we fret over the smallest of things. We are conditioned in our culture to live in drama and immerse ourselves in minutia and other things that just don’t matter. We cannot see the forest for the trees in most instances – even in our churches, which are replete with petty scandals, gossip, and small time politics. We claim our allegiance to Jesus Christ and we profess our submission to Holy Spirit – but we provide only lip service to these commands – even though we have Jesus, the Christ of God, God incarnate demonstrating for us these very sentiments and these very acts. The salvation of humankind hangs in the balance of His choices over the next 24 hours and He is aware of that. He is also aware that He is about to receive the punishment that is truly intended for all people. He is aware of the pain, the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain that is about to beset his earthly existence – yet He submits. Can you get your head around that? Well try.
We complain about our jobs and our homes and our food and our kids and our, well, everything, and we think that God isn’t listening to our problems when He decides to simply allow us to work it out. We pray, “Let Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But do we really want that? I hope so; but wanting that may mean “wanting” something that we have never even dreamed of for our lives. I have experienced even in this vocation people who have claimed submission to Christ and then when Christ actually moved them from their spot – they jump off the boat so fast – either to go back and “do church” the man-made way or they leave the ministry altogether.
This stuff is real folks. Good and evil are real. God and Satan are real; and there is an ongoing battle for your soul and for the souls of every single person that you know – and don’t know. Pray for submission. Pray that God’s will be done in your life; and then have the courage to trust Him. It is not easy, but it is truly the definition of abundant life.
RSS Feed