So many practical lessons from Exodus 23-24...lessons that apply to our lives even today. But I'm going to focus on a nugget from Matthew 26.
During the last supper, Jesus warned the disciples that they would be offended because of Him. He also told Peter he would deny Christ three times. Peter boldly denies this possibility!
A little bit later, as Jesus was entering the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked His disciples to watch and pray. But they can't stay awake. They keep falling asleep... THREE TIMES Christ asked them to stay awake and pray, but they couldn't. Then not long after the mob comes and takes Jesus away and they are all scattered. And that very night, just as Jesus predicted Peter denies Him.
In the Desire of Ages, we find this convicting quote:
"It was in sleeping when Jesus bade him watch and pray thatPeter had prepared the way for his great sin. All the disciples, by sleeping in that critical hour, sustained a great loss. Christ knew the fiery ordeal through which they were to pass. He knew how Satan would work to paralyze their senses that they might be unready for the trial. Therefore it was that He gave them warning. Had those hours in the garden been spent in watching and prayer, Peter would not have been left to depend upon his own feeble strength. He would not have denied his Lord. Had the disciples watched with Christ in His agony, they would have been prepared to behold His suffering upon the cross. They would have understood in some degree the nature of His overpowering anguish. They would have been able to recall His words thatforetold His sufferings, His death, and His resurrection. Amid the gloom of the most trying hour, some rays of hope would have lighted up the darkness and sustained their faith." The Desire of Ages, p. 713
What spiritual victories might we be losing today because we can't stay awake, or get awake, to watch and pray?
Tomorrow's Reading: Ex. 25-26 and Matthew 27
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