Luke 22: 42 “….’Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not my will, but Yours, be done.’”
Dear God,
Thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to bless me and direct my thoughts to seek You, and understand more of Your words of life.
It is sad, that Jesus, the Son of God and Man, was not received with respect and care, by many on earth in His time and down through the ages since. Yet He has served mankind in the love of heaven. All on earth were treated by Him with love and respect, with many being healed of their physical and spiritual ills. His life of simplicity and humble, pure living, serves as an example for us all. In His humanity we are given an example of what we can achieve in the strength and enlightenment available for the asking from God, the Father and the Holy Spirit.
The opening passage comes from the time, when Jesus had been led by the Holy Spirit, into the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing what was before Him leading to His sacrificial death. God, I think I (we) but barely take in, that there was no other way that could atone for our sins and avert the sure penalty by You for the sins we have committed over a lifetime. I do understand that death only came into the world with sin, because it must always be the consequence of sin. As well as, all humans begin to perpetuate the sins of Adam and Eve from babyhood on.
Your Son took the form of a human body, as we on earth all have, affected and weakened by the sin of 2 thousand years since creation. Yet His Spirit was divine and He never sinned. As He stood ready to enter the superhuman challenge for His soul and allegiance to You, from Satan, He dared not begin the pathway set before Him, until He was assured of You approval and support.
In the human part of Jesus, it was natural, that He mentally pulled back from all that He knew was ahead. But in submission to You, His Father, He was prepared to go ahead, according to Your will.
I am thankful for the many examples of Jesus that instruct and strengthen us to also hang on with the approval and strength from heaven, through all circumstances. He gave another example for us, when He was frequently in submissive, humble prayer with You Father God, before proceeding on in obedience to Your will.
It is sobering to realize that You, Jesus, allowed Yourself to be put to death in my stead. I ask please, that in the strength of the Holy Spirit, that Your sacrifice never be in vain for me and that today, I will walk in joy, as Your true child, being able to reflect this gift of life and joy to all that I meet.
Sylvia