August 25, 2024

Matthew 26.46 (NIV)

“Rise, let us go!”

Arise and do the next thing.*

Jesus had taken his disciples to the garden where he asked them to wait while he prayed. In private, he confessed his distress to Peter, James, and John, and then he went off alone and cried out in anguish to his Father. Meanwhile, his followers have fallen asleep. Jesus has to wake them to alert them to the fact that Judas and the soldiers are on their way to arrest him.

I don’t know what the disciples had expected but obviously they were surprised. Although Jesus had been training them for the road ahead, they didn’t see this coming. When things don’t go according to plan; when you are taken by surprise; when your training didn’t cover that . . . what do you do next? “Get up! Let’s go!” Jesus says.

Did you just get some bad news? Did all your carefully laid plans fall through? Has your heart been broken? What are you going to do now? What are your choices? Jesus showed us the way to face the big bad things that sneak up on us. “Get up! Let’s go!” Let’s deal with it. Let’s do what comes next. He will walk with us even through the valley of the shadow of death – he has already been there/done that! “Get up!” and do what comes next.

Even those who are mature in the faith face new moments of decision every day.*