WHEN
SLEEP FAILS US!
I know some people who
have no trouble at all sleeping. They joke that those who can’t sleep have a
guilty conscience. Well, perhaps, but the Bible records at least one critical
time when Jesus urged his closest disciples to stay awake. It is recorded three
times in the gospels and takes place in the Garden of Gethsemane on Jesus’ last
night on earth.
Mark
14:37-38
37
And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith
unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
38
Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
The spirit truly is ready, but the
flesh is weak.
Interestingly, the word “watch” in verse 38 is from the Greek gregoreuo
and is the basis of our English word “gregarious” which means to be lively.
During distressing times sleep just doesn’t seem important or even possible.
None doubts that we are in a very distressing time.
Our culture is imploding upon an empty shell of false morality and insincere
concern for trivial things. The majority lie in an uncomfortable sleep but
those who are aroused to the urgency of it find it hard to sleep.
If sleep won’t come – or stay
– it’s important to know how to occupy that waking time. “Watch (gregoreuo
– be lively) and pray (proseuchomai – to pray, supplicate
and worship) is what Jesus recommends.
Lord, once again I am up earlier than usual. Let me
pray and worship because the times are hard. AMEN
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