Most Christians are probably very familiar with the account of Jesus and His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus, aware of his impending death, goes to a secluded place with His closest followers to pray. As He does so, He instructs His disciples to keep watch and pray, and they fall asleep. Their Savior’s instructions seemingly fell on deafened ears or unwilling hearts.
When the passage is discussed, much attention is usually paid to the disciples’ slumber and the fact that while the Messiah prayed, they slept. They should have been praying as well; preparing their hearts and minds for the chaos they didn’t see coming. However, as Jerry Bridges reminds us in The Discipline of Grace, there were two aspects of Christ’s command. The disciples were to pray, but they also were to keep watch. They were to do both of these things, so that they didn’t, as Jesus warned, give in to the temptation of sin (Mark 14:38).
The same instructions are pertinent to us if we want to keep ourselves from giving in to sin’s allure. We should pray, bringing our thoughts, concerns, and resolves before God. However, we must also be on the watch; we must be mindful of those situations where we are most likely to fall into temptation so that we may resist sin’s traps.
For example, perhaps, we tend to get cranky when we are hungry. This might be partially a physiological issue, but it is also a heart one. If we are God’s children, He has given all we need to be hungry, to feel the physiological aspects of that situation, and not sin (see 2 Peter 1:3). If we know that the “hangrys” are a potential pitfall for us, we should prepare our hearts accordingly. When we know we will have a long day and we might not get to enjoy our regular meals, we should ask God to sustain us. If the situation is unexpected, we should still be quick to turn to God in prayer. Instead of trying to maintain our good attitude all on our own, or instead of using our growling stomach as an excuse to sin, when we first can tell that we are tempted to a short temper, we should turn to God. We stay on the watch for where sin may easily grab a foothold in our lives, and before it does so, we bring that circumstance to our Heavenly Father, asking Him to give us all we need to glorify Him.
This may seem like a small example, and perhaps it is, but my experience is that for many people it is the “small” temptations that are challenging to resist. I would guess that most committed Christians are not going to be tempted to go out and rob a store, but far too many are quick to be selfish when they are feeling overwhelmed. We have built safeguards in our lives to prevent us from falling into the most notorious sins, but we aren’t as watchful when it comes to the socially acceptable ones. The disciples probably didn’t think it was such a big deal if they rested, but how might their response to Jesus’ arrest and conviction been different if they had spent the preceding moments praying instead of sleeping? For big and little temptations, we need to be on guard. We must watch for how evil is trying to persuade us, and we must bring those thoughts, inclinations, and temptations to God, asking for His Spirit to give us the power to turn from sin’s seduction and instead to be devoted to words, thoughts and deeds that glorify our Father above.
Beloved child of God – may we look at the disciples’ example and realize that we too are quick to be lured into apathy, and we don’t pray as we ought, because we aren’t being watchful like we ought. Instead, may we prayerfully be on guard for anything that may lead us away from God’s good path, and instead of falling into sin’s trap, may we steadfastly follow where our Savior leads.
