Garden Decision 1

Matthew 26:42

We had a friend named Scotty Ballinger who collected a variety of guns. He once told us about the time he was target shooting with a pistol he had just acquired when he misfired and put a bullet through the neighbor’s window. His first impulse was to act as if he knew nothing about it, but he was aware that he had to confess his mistake and make things right. Commenting on his need to face his neighbor he said, “That was the longest walk I had to make.”

His words often come to mind when I am confronted with a task I am not looking forward to doing. So often we may be faced with a difficult task, something we know we need to do. We just need to take a deep breath and make that long walk.

As Jesus neared his time on the cross, the certain torment and death that was waiting for him, he struggled with the task before him. With his disciples in Gethsemane he went off to pray. What is his first desire? What does he ultimately concede?

My belief of Jesus is that he desired more than anything else to do whatever was required of him to serve his Father in heaven. All of his teaching and healing, all of his miracles, everything was meant to serve God. Still, Jesus was not only God, he was also human and with that he had human emotions.

It is clear that as he was alone in the garden he had fears about what he had to face. Like anyone Jesus was not looking forward to the pain and suffering that he must go through. His first impulse was to confess to God that he didn’t want to face death on a cross. If it was possible at all he wanted to avoid that suffering.

But Jesus knew in his heart that he had to take that long walk. If he was going to do the miraculous work of God, if he was going to be that sacrifice that saved all of us from sin and death, then he had to die on the cross.

In the end Jesus gave himself over to that need. He made the decision in the garden that night that he would do whatever was required of him because the good of God’s kingdom was far more important than his own comfort.

As believers in Jesus and followers of Christ we too must often make similar decisions. We must choose to be willing to set ourselves aside and do those things that we may not be looking forward to. It may be sharing the good news of Jesus with someone, it may be working to help the poor, or it may be giving of our finances to support a ministry. Even when we do not want to do the good work we must, in the end, choose to do the will of God.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What is the “long walk” you may need to take to do God’s will?