Matthew 26:41
As a child of God you must always be on guard… The moment you become comfortable is the same moment when you become susceptible to the devices of the enemy… Being alert is not a (n) optional trait that we carry, but a command from the very mouth of Jesus which was spoken to His disciples as He begins to prepare for crucifixion… If you want to reach the levels that God desire and has planned for you to reach, you must learn to “watch and pray…” Today, through this passage we learn how easy temptation can seep into our hearts and minds… It is through these words that we learn how much danger lies at our doorstep every morning or even cuddles beside us in our beds… Jesus speaks to the disciples about temptation knowing that they didn’t even realize what was taking place… A lot of times we overlook the small things (like falling asleep) but Jesus teaches us today that we need to learn to deal with the small issues in life before the lead to bigger problems…
There are a lot of things that lead us to temptation; there are a lot of doors that we have left up in our lives that entice us to do wrong… Some of these doors could be acquaintances that we need to shut off, some of these doors could be old habits that we never fully removed from our lives or even places that we visit. The point that we need to learn today is that no matter where you are in life temptation is around you… So many people think that they are above certain things based on their economic or social standing; however, the truth of the matter is that when you begin to put confidence in your flesh you open the door to the enemy taking advantage of your weaknesses which is why Jesus goes on to say “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak….” You can overcome the attack of the enemy; however, the only way to conquer him is through the presences and power of the Holy Spirit which is realized by submission and prayer… Whether you realize it or not, there is a battle that is taking place within you everyday of your life… We naturally sin and fall short of the glory of God, the desires that we are born with are desires that alienate us from God and lead to destruction. You never have to teach a child to do wrong; you never have to show them how to be disobedient of unruly… We are born with a rebellious nature, we are born with a desire for the flesh and when we accept the call of God upon our lives the battle begins… It is because of this that we are told that we must “Watch and pray…”Remember when Jesus was baptized, the bible says that right after coming from the word He was lead into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil…
The devil knows what comes natural to us; he will use whatever he can to grab our attention and that most easily is done by focusing on things that we already desire from the outset of life… It is because of this very fact that we are told here in the gospel of Matthew that we must “Watch and pray…” We are called to be vigilant and observe the things around us… Notice that if we watch and pray we can resist, but if we don’t than we will enter into temptation… When we start to take things in our own hands instead of relying on God we enter into temptation… When we think that things won’t be that bad we enter into temptation, when we try to straddle the fence we enter into temptation… It is so simple and subtle to fall by the wayside and that is why Matthew records that we must “Watch and pray…” The temptations that we face are things that appeal to the desires of our flesh… The temptations that we face are things that we have experienced before and found pleasure in… Jesus knows that this battle is overcoming what comes naturally; that’s why He says that, “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." We must come to know and realize that the desires that we have within our heart will not overcome the desires that we have in the flesh without the presence of God and His spirit… This is why we must be vigilant and continue to pray… We cannot defeat Satan on our own and we can look at how many times we have tried and failed to know that that is true… Paul says in the 7th chapter of Romans, “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” We will continue to fall short and miss the mark if we try with our own might… Once we realize that this battle is real and we take it to the Lord in prayer we will overcome the temptations in our lives and live a life that is pleasing in His sight…
ALL FOR HIS GLORY!
Right on time. Thanks for ministering to us everyday! May God bless and keep you.
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