Thursday 28 Mar 2013

Thursday Reading: Matthew 26:38-39

Key Verse: Matthew 26:39
39  And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Devotion:
Our lot is not to try and guess at how great a burden was placed on Christ’s shoulders this day, but rather to try and see how much of a burden we placed on His shoulders ourselves. Christ took on that burden for all sin, not just the sins of the men at the time; how much that was is truly incomprehensible to us, but we can break it down to just one person at a time by admitting to the sins that we have done against God.

When we begin to figure out how much we have done against God we then begin to understand what He has done for us. This makes it a very personal thing because we then begin to realise just how much He must love us, personally.

We can then look at the words that Christ spoke at this time and know that Christ was going to do everything according to the will of God the Father. It was not His own human choice to do what He willed because that is the same choice that God has given us; and yet He chose to follow God’s will and not His own. That is the ultimate example to us that we should be following God’s will as well. Just because things do not go our own way does not mean that we have to turn away and figure out what we can do to fix things. God has given us a lot in life to accept and His will has already been laid down; we just need to know how to listen to that will and to follow it without doubting. I do not say without question because even Christ questioned the decision to make sure it came from God, but He most certainly followed God’s will.

We must not blindly accept what others say but rather take what we hear and compare it to the will of God; that is what we can then make an informed decision with and go with that final decision as long as it agrees with God’s will. It is not always easy to listen to those instructions from God and certainly not easy to filter out the worldly tumult that continues all around us. Why do you think Christ chose a quiet secluded garden to go to in order to pray that night? Christ wanted to make sure that He heard everything very clearly that night because it was getting close to the time to pay the ultimate sacrifice. God wants us to be able to withdraw from the world so that we can hear what He has in store for us. We don’t have to block out the whole world but rather to take time out to be with God. We live in this world and we need to be able to reach others to show them about God; withdrawing totally from the world would allow us to listen to God but we should not be surprised to find out that we need to face the world in our next breath…

Points to Ponder:
Do you find quiet time each day?

Are you spending it with God?