In the book of Matthew 26, Jesus asks His disciples to come to the garden and watch and pray 'with' Him. After Jesus goes deeper into the garden to pray alone, He comes back and finds that his disciples have fallen asleep. Wow.It occurs to me that falling asleep after Jesus has asked you to do something is a dreadfully terrible place in which to be. We see in the disciples that they not only fell asleep once, but again after Jesus admonishes them.
Falling asleep can be a dangerous thing. Think of being asleep here, as a metaphor for anything that distracts you from the purpose that God has called you to do. (name your distractors.… TV, video games, Facebook, Internet, etc.) So, have you fallen asleep?
I think the saddest part about this is not that the disciples fell asleep after being told not to, but rather that Jesus had to bear the burden alone after asking for help. His words were that He was overwhelmed to the point of death.“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me." That's pretty big right? Jesus then took the responsibility away from the disciples.
People will often say "what God has for me, it is for me". And, while that is a true statement, it doesn't mean it's a permanent statement.The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. (Book of Job) By the time his disciples had even realized that they had let Jesus down again, Judas and the armed guards were rushing into the garden to arrest Jesus. Peter try to defend Jesus by attacking one of the guards, but it was too little too late. Next that we hear of the disciples in this passage is that they fled. Are you now running away?
At that moment their ministry was gone.
Now, the good news is that Jesus is a restorer. He restores them with the great commission, (Peter and John got individual restorations as well ). Even if/when we fall asleep, Jesus can give us the opportunity to get it right. Several opportunities in fact. But, don't be fooled, that does not mean it will always be there for you. (Just in case you want a biblical reference look up Elijah. See how his illustrious ministry ended).
I love you and I am praying for you..
~Pastor Erroyl
Falling asleep can be a dangerous thing. Think of being asleep here, as a metaphor for anything that distracts you from the purpose that God has called you to do. (name your distractors.… TV, video games, Facebook, Internet, etc.) So, have you fallen asleep?
I think the saddest part about this is not that the disciples fell asleep after being told not to, but rather that Jesus had to bear the burden alone after asking for help. His words were that He was overwhelmed to the point of death.“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me." That's pretty big right? Jesus then took the responsibility away from the disciples.
People will often say "what God has for me, it is for me". And, while that is a true statement, it doesn't mean it's a permanent statement.The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. (Book of Job) By the time his disciples had even realized that they had let Jesus down again, Judas and the armed guards were rushing into the garden to arrest Jesus. Peter try to defend Jesus by attacking one of the guards, but it was too little too late. Next that we hear of the disciples in this passage is that they fled. Are you now running away?
At that moment their ministry was gone.
Now, the good news is that Jesus is a restorer. He restores them with the great commission, (Peter and John got individual restorations as well ). Even if/when we fall asleep, Jesus can give us the opportunity to get it right. Several opportunities in fact. But, don't be fooled, that does not mean it will always be there for you. (Just in case you want a biblical reference look up Elijah. See how his illustrious ministry ended).
I love you and I am praying for you..
~Pastor Erroyl
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