I decided to put a devotional book in the car to read during those horrid traffic jam and today I flipped towards this page with the verse:
He went a little farther, and fell on the ground and prayed. (Mark 14:35 NIV)
The devotion focused on the night Jesus spend in scared prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and the different responses he got from the people:
1. Indifferent - those who are unaware of Jesus' presence in the garden
2. Selfish - Judas who was too busy with his own schemes to join Jesus
3. Unfocused - the other disciples who joined Jesus but were distracted by sleep.
4. Unaware - the inner circle of disciples who did not comprehend when Jesus told them the urgency of the hour.
The phrase used "Ultimately, Jesus prayed alone. He went farther than His disciples and prayed longer. At the greatest moment of intercession in human history, there was no one willing to go with Jesus and watch with Him" (Experiencing God by Henry and Richard Blackaby, page 84)
The following phrases touched my heart: "at the greatest moment of intercession" and "no one willing to go". Ironically, it is not that "no one" wants to go but it is more like unaware of the importance to want to go. If they knew it was the greatest moment, everyone would have flocked with Jesus.
But the important lesson is, that we will never know when the greatest moment will arrive.
We will never know that slight prompting by the Holy Spirit is actually to tell us the time has come.
We will never know that the one time you decided to forsake God for your own activities, it was that moment.
What I know is that there is many examples in the bible which reminds us to always be ready; to always prepare the lamp for the groom (Matthew 25).
We must continue to deepen our relationship with God so that we will be more alert and aware to His calling. For we will never know when, how and what will happen in future. The only thing that is constant in our lives, is the presence of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment