In the book of Matthew, 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.
It occurred to me that falling asleep after Jesus has asked you to do something is a dreadfully, terrible place to be. We see in the disciples that they not only fell asleep once, but again after Jesus admonished 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, people, work, Internet, etc.)
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”. Wow. 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 realized that they had let Jesus down, Judas and the armed guards were rushing into the garden to arrest Jesus. Peter tried to defend Jesus by attacking one of the guards, but it was too little too late. The next time that we hear of the disciples is that they fled the garden. 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 also). Even if/when we fall asleep, Jesus gives us the opportunity to get it right. Several opportunities in fact. But, don't be fooled into thinking that there will always be an opportunity; 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). Don't fall asleep on Jesus. Don't get distracted. Stay focused. And if you get distracted, heed the warning.
Sis.Pinky’s Prayer:
Heal us God; help us to keep our focus on you and to fulfill the mission that you’ve called us to. Let us not fall asleep on our spiritual jobs, and if we have, wake us up!
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen
We love you, and we are praying for you.
~Pastor Erroyl and Sis. Pinky
SALT
