Daily devotion – Gethsemane!
Mark 13:33
“Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”
Gethsemane—the garden where our Lord’s prayer was so intense that His sweat became as drops of blood.
I have walked through that garden. I was given the privilege of entering a section not usually open to visitors. Sitting among the ancient olive trees—some nearly 2,000 years old—my mind travelled back to that solemn night.
The night of betrayal.
I pictured Jesus in prolonged agony, praying for hours as the weight of the cross drew near. I saw Judas approach with deceit. I heard the clash as Peter struck, cutting off Malchus’ ear—only for Jesus to restore it in a moment of divine mercy.
I imagined the overwhelming presence of soldiers and guards, yet at a single declaration from Jesus—“I Am”—they fell backward to the ground.
And then… the silence.
The disciples, who had been asked to watch and pray, had fallen asleep. Fear soon replaced their resolve, and they fled into the darkness.
And Jesus—alone—stepped forward to drink the cup set before Him.
The mocking, the beating, the suffering had begun.
As we reflect on that night in Gethsemane, and all that our Lord was about to endure, we must pause and consider our own walk with God.
Are we, like the disciples, asleep in a moment that calls for spiritual alertness?
Or are we watching… and praying?
In a world that grows darker and more uncertain, the words of Jesus still call to us with urgency: “Take heed, watch and pray.”
May we be found faithful.
See you at our Good Friday Service – 6:00pm.