Christ Church Daily Devotion Jan 29 2024

Jesus goes to Gethsemane with his disciples and expresses his sorrow and distress to them. He prays to God, asking if it's possible to avoid his upcoming suffering, but ultimately submits to God's will. Jesus finds his disciples sleeping multiple times and urges them to stay awake and pray. The passage emphasizes the importance of seeking and following God's will. The message encourages praying for guidance and the strength to follow God's will in our own decisions. Welcome to Christchurch's daily devotion for January 29th, 2024. Today we will be reading from Matthew 26, verses 36-44. Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to them, Sit here while I go over there and pray. He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him. And he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, My father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, yet not as I will, but as you will. Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Couldn't you men keep watch with me for one hour? he asked Peter. Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away a second time and prayed, My father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. When he came back, he again found them sleeping because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Most of us can remember being away from home and on our own for the first time, perhaps in our first real job or in college, as moral choices came to us. We realized that we could decide what to do now without anyone stopping us. For many of us, a person would come to mind, someone who had guided us, someone who had reminded us of right and wrong during our formative years. Our mom or dad, another relative, a Sunday school teacher, youth director, or pastor. As we thought about that choice to make, we would think about what that mentor would say to us in this situation. And more often than not, we let that influence and guide our choice. God's will is so much more important than the teaching of any person, no matter how wise and moral that person is or was. Jesus taught us to pray that God's will be done. For many of us, we must pray in order to understand just what God's will is. In today's passage, we see Jesus expressing his own will and then seeking to know his father's will. And even in the anguish of this time, Jesus submitted to the will of his heavenly father, giving us the ultimate lived out example of this lesson. Your personal worship option today is, let's pray today that we will know and understand God's will. Perhaps it is in a decision or choice we are in the process of making. Then pray for the wisdom, strength, and humility to follow God's will. Not my will, but yours be done. Amen.