Time to Wake Up!

 By Odon Bulamba (25th January 2011)


Matthew 26 : 36 -46
Then Jesus went with his followers to a place called Gethsemane. Jesus said to his followers, "Sit here while I go there and pray."
 (God gave us a place to sit....do we really sit there, or are we sitting somewhere else?)


Jesus told Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to come with him. Then Jesus began to be very sad and troubled. Jesus said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, "My soul is full of sorrow. My heart is breaking with sadness. Stay awake here with me and wait." (Do we respect this recommendation of staying awake?)


Then Jesus walked a little farther away from them. Jesus fell to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, don't give me this cup {of suffering}. But do what you want, not what I want." Then Jesus went back to his followers. Jesus found his followers sleeping.(Imagine Jesus coming back and finding you asleep... Who are you going to blame?)


Jesus said to Peter, "You men could not stay awake with me for one hour? Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. Your spirit wants to do what is right. But your body is weak." (For how long do I stay awake with Christ, per day, per week, may be per month? Jesus is upset with us, because we don't stay awake with Him. We all know that our bodies are weak. This information has been given to us since the day of our salvation. So, what do we do about our weaknesses? What do we do to change that weakness of our bodies to a divine strength? Do you push yourself? On several occasions, we fight against the sleep because we want to be somewhere or we need to do something. Staying awake is a matter of personal decision. Sometimes we don't want to play our roles and wait for God to do it all for us).


Then Jesus went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this {painful} thing to be taken from me, and if I must do it, then I pray that what you want will be done." Then Jesus went back to the followers. Again Jesus found them sleeping. Their eyes were very tired. (How many times does he come back to check on us and find us not only sleeping but also with tired eyes? - Meaning that we have eyes but cannot see clearly. You know what I mean... think about having tired eyes. Oh Lord, teach us).


So Jesus left them and went away one more time and prayed. This third time he prayed, he said the same thing. Then Jesus went back to the followers and said, "You are still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be given to sinful people. Stand up! We must go. Here comes the man that is giving me {to my enemies}." (Time has arrived. Stand up! We must go. What a powerful message from God? Are you ready to go? Are you ready to make the first step to His call? Are you ready to follow Him? Or do you want to continue to sleep and rest. Or do you want to be the one who is giving Him to His enemies?)