A Gethsemane Take-Away
Before Jesus' Cross bound body was anointed by torture, His spirit and soul tore from the anguish within; He sought Heaven from Gethsemane.
From earnest prayer, exhausted by sorrow and sweating drops of blood Jesus obeyed His Father in Gethsemane. No fleeing - just faithfulness from He who knew He was only hours away from history's most notorious execution.
But you reflect - no Gethsemane or Calvary awaits me?
Ahh ...!
Could these outrageous judgements below also bear a kernel of truth; is there even a fragment of discomfort to be found here?
- We all want the benefits of the Cross without the burdens of the Cross.
- We all want the salvation of the Cross without the suffering of the Cross.
- We all salute this Son of God, but who even briefly considers repeating His example?
There is no easy-believism for those who apprehend the height of grace, the abyss of sin, the debt of forgiveness or the torment of Calvary.
For those who do grasp this, Gethsemane's pain-laden prayer lingers loudly as a divine echo to this very day:
...yet not my will but yours be done. (Luke 22:42b)
Who will reckon their flesh and fun in life as Jesus did in Gethsemane?
Gethsemane invites reciprocity, but the Cross demands it.
Today's Soul Snippet:
"This is Gethsemane. There is no death to self without falling in the garden of suffering to my knees from the soul’s travails; wishing to be devoted to my Father first and foremost for the few and fleeting breaths that remain in my life". ~ Michael Cartwright
ENJOY too ... The Crucifixion of the Soul
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