Wednesday Reading: Matthew 26 51-56
 
Key Verse: Matthew 26 56
56  But all this was done, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
 
Devotion:
What are you made of? I don't mean physically, but spiritually. We all like to think that when push comes to shove that we would stand forward and defend a person in need, but when it comes to the crunch we fail oh so many times. The disciples were the closest people to Jesus, and yet they too effectively left Him for dead at this time – they ran for their lives.

Simon Peter thought that he was doing the right thing in the beginning by stepping forward with his sword and cutting off the ear of Malchus (either a bad shot or a very good one). But Jesus rebuked him for doing this and told him that he had to let God have His way. After that, all the disciples left Jesus to be lead away to Caiaphas the high priest.

At this stage we may start to think that this was one big conspiracy against Christ. But that is another reaction that we often have when things go so wrong. We look for excuses to cover things up that we cannot explain. Sometimes we don't want to look too deep in case we find something we don't like; and excuse is a much easier way out.

But what we have to remember here is that God does not need us! Yes He loves us and He wants us to be with Him. But He does not need us – in fact He probably needs us like He needs a hole in the head! We are the sinners, we are the ones bringing the corruption into our lives. Why would He need that? The answer is simple. He loves us so much that He is willing to forgive us of everything that we do wrong. He wants us to come to Him. Jesus allowed Himself to be caught and taken away so that He could show us His love for us all – even when we turn our backs on Him, He still wants us to come back!

Points to Ponder:
So how strong do you think you are?
 
How weak does God think you are?