ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL

Going a little farther, Jesus fell with His face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me.  Yet not as I will, but as You will."  Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping.  "Couldn't you men keep watch with Me for one hour?" He asked Peter.  "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Matthew 26:39-41
 
Godly vigilance involves doing what we see Jesus do.  Yet Jesus’s first disciples were tempted to disengage from Him when things grew troubled.  i also have that same temptation today - to think that because Jesus does the heavy lifting, there’s not much for me to do.  But i must follow Him, and if i don't, i’m not really one of His sheep.1
 
Clinging to Jesus in troubled times is hard work, demanding that i not only engage Him, but engage the Father by His Spirit.  My salvation isn’t passive but active;2 it demands my surrender.  When i pray along with Jesus, “Not my will but Yours,” i’m agreeing to engage the Father, because it’s the Father’s desire that His children engage with Him.
 
Engagement involves talking with Him, i.e. prayer.  But there’s more to vigilance than prayer.  When i truly engage with a holy God, it crucifies my flesh.  Full surrender involves laying down all my fleshly leanings, engaging the Father by His Spirit, and taking up my cross.  That’s what Jesus did, what His first disciples eventually did after they received His Spirit, and what i must also do to follow Him.3  If i fail to fully engage the triune God i haven’t really surrendered to Him, no matter how i might have prayed.
 
 
1 John 10:27
2 Philippians 2:12
3 Matthew 16:24-25