My husband and I discussed having driven the same routes for so long that we’re prone to drift into autopilot when we leave the house. When our granddaughter was born and I drove over several times a week to offer her parents some rest, I found myself heading their direction no matter where I intended to go. The beginning of my trip to visit either of my grandchildren is the same, but two highways merge through town, causing me to confuse the routes more than once.
Why am I here? Where am I heading? These questions draw me from my reverie every time! Like Dorothy among the poppies in Oz and Peter, James, and John in Gethsemane on the night of Jesus’s betrayal, I am prone to slumber when I should be wide awake and wary.
“Jesus told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep.
He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour?
Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!””
Matthew 26:38-41 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.26.38-41.NLT
Three times, Jesus asked His three closest followers to watch and pray with Him. Three times He returned to find them sleeping. Matthew notes that they simply couldn’t keep their eyes open. I wonder how Matthew would have faired had he been invited. He seems to defend the three, justifying their actions. Perhaps he was furious with them as they recounted their tale and only later, the Holy Spirit allowed him to understand. Maybe he felt the strain too. Either way, we all find ourselves in the same predicament when we pray or read God’s Word, sometimes even in the middle of a worship service.
Peter was called on the carpet by name in Matthew’s account and he offers some advice in His Spirit-inspired writings. He learned his lessons well, but have we?
“Stay alert!
Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.
Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.
In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus.
So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
All power to him forever!
Amen.”
1 Peter 5:8-11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.5.8-11.NLT
Similarly, the prophet Jeremiah’s many messages from the Lord called God’s people to wake up and realize the impending threat of the enemy, acknowledging the Babylonians from the north as God’s judgement on their wayward nation. Still God provided hope, pointing to a future restoration, peace, and prosperity for a remnant.
“God wants both Jeremiah and the people to look beyond the impending disasters and contemplate his promises that await sure fulfillment.
That is a substantial part of what it means to walk by faith.”
For The Love Of God: Day 217 • Devotional
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/786/day/217?segment=0
Next time you find yourself on autopilot, remember the warning Jesus gave Peter.
“Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.
For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!””
Matthew 26:41 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.26.41.NLT
It wasn’t long before Peter’s reverie was interrupted by a rooster’s crow. He was suddenly more awake than he’d ever been! He did the unthinkable- denied the Christ, Son of the Living God- not once, but three times.
“Meanwhile, Peter was in the courtyard below.
One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest came by and noticed Peter warming himself at the fire.
She looked at him closely and said, “You were one of those with Jesus of Nazareth.”
But Peter denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, and he went out into the entryway.
Just then, a rooster crowed.”
Mark 14:66-68 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.14.66-68.NLT
“You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer.
You’re out in the open now.
The bright light of Christ makes your way plain.
So no more stumbling around.
Get on with it!
The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours.
Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.
Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness.
Expose these things for the sham they are.
It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see.
Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.
Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light!
So watch your step.
Use your head.
Make the most of every chance you get.
These are desperate times!”
Ephesians 5:8-16 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/eph.5.11.MSG
Wake Up Sleeper-Austin French
“We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.
The night is coming, and then no one can work.”
John 9:4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.9.4.NLT
“Under the Mosaic covenant, special people—prophets, priests, kings, and a few other individuals—were especially endowed with the Spirit, and had the task of representing the people to God, and God to the people.
All those under the new covenant will know the Lord:
God will put his law in their minds and write it on their hearts (Jer. 31:33).
There will no longer be mediating teachers, for all will know him (Jer. 31:34); teachers will merely be part of the body, not mediators with an “inside” knowledge of God.
And the forgiveness of sins will be absolute (Jer. 31:34).
For The Love Of God: Day 215 • Devotional
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/786/day/215?segment=0
“And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.”
2 Peter 3:14-15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.3.14-15.NLT
There’s no time for daydreaming.
We have work to do!
“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.”
Acts of the Apostles 20:24 NLT
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