There is a part of me that is in complete sympathy with the disciples of Jesus as I think about them this morning. The Passover meal has ended and Jesus has taken them to the Garden of Gethsemane, leaving eight disciples at one point, He takes Peter, James and John on a little farther into the garden. He then asks them to keep watch while he goes to pray. We know the story, they fall asleep, not once but twice as the Scripture says:
"They simply couldn't keep their eyes open."
The events of the day and all the things that Jesus had talked to them about just wore them out. The Message puts it this way:
"There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there's another part that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire."
Yes, they would follow Jesus anywhere, but their bodies imposed a limit.
That is me this morning. Drew has been here with us for only two days, and my body says to sleep in this morning. After many holes of golf, swimming in the pool, some games on the Wii, and several other activities, that bed feels so very good.
But then these words of Jesus, a few verses down in the narrative say:
"Get up! Let's get going!"
There is a time to sleep and a time be up and about. After all, this day will not happen again. There are waking hours stretching out in front of me where I can be with my grand son, making memories that he might remember, enjoying the day together.
But I bet we will both sleep good tonight.
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