Our Sunday School class is studying the Adam Hamilton book and DVD series, “24 Hours That Changed the World” in conjunction with Lent. This week’s topic was on what happened at the Garden of Gethsemane.

As we read Mark 14:32-42 it occurred to me that in all actuality, if I was there in the garden that night–with Peter, James, and John–I would have fallen asleep by the olive trees also. Yes, I know that Jesus asked us to keep watch with him, but it was late at night right after a big meal (and an unusually busy week!) and we would all have been tired. Jesus going off to pray wasn’t anything that gave us pause since he did this frequently. Yes, he did seem more distressed tonight, but he always found a way to deal with problems as they came up and I’m sure this would turn out OK also. It was true that the Passover meal tonight was strange and even a bit awkward at times, but Jesus has confused us many times with His words.

Obviously, we don’t know exactly what was going on in their minds that night, but what we do know is that they fell asleep every time Jesus asked them to keep watch and pray. Another thing that we can probably say is that if James, John, and Peter KNEW what was going to happen over the next several hours, they would have been right there next to Jesus praying with the urgency that He was.

Isn’t that how we are, also? Sometimes we do know when a big moment is about to happen in our lives. I’m thinking of a wedding or a job interview or an important conversation that we know we are getting ready to have. Since we know about them, we usually pray about them.

But many times life is not that predictable is it? We usually aren’t ready to hear things such as, “You’ve lost your job,” or, “The results are back and you have (fill in the blank horrible disease)”. The truth is that life often times just catches us off-guard.

We need to have a certain sense of urgency about how we live our lives. I’m not talking about all of the unhealthy senses of urgency out there that the world puts on us. Those usually only serve to distract us from what is truly important in life.

I’m talking about a Godly sense of urgency that we truly prioritize our lives and we live it how He has shown us how to live.

So, what would that look like in your life? How can you live your life–not in a paranoid, frantic state–but in a way that you have a relationship with Jesus so that when the unexpected comes into your life you have a deep connection to the one who already knows what is going to happen.

More to come…
Jeremy