Daily Devotion for Saturday 21st March 2026
Saturday, 21 March 2026
St Matthew 26: 36 – 46
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’ Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again he went away for the second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.’
Reflection
I remember reading about some churches many years ago who had a verger whose job it was to wake up any of the congregation who fell asleep. He would have a long pole and would use it to wake up the sleeping member of the congregation.
These days our services tend to be of a far more reasonable length and as far as I know people no longer fall asleep during a service. [Never in mine! Editor] However do we tend to let our thoughts drift away from God, either during a church service or at other times? Do we fall asleep to spiritual things when we are distracted by more earthly things?
How do we respond when a friend has a great need for our time and support? Are we faithful and awake to the friend’s needs or are we like the disciples who slept while Jesus prayed about what He knew was to happen and the painful death He would suffer.
How can we stay awake for Jesus? How can we be aware of the needs of our friends and acquaintances? We need to do what Jesus did and pray. We need to pray for ourselves that we will be fully equipped to serve Jesus and pray for others that “they might come” to know Jesus and also serve Him diligently.
We all need to look at what is important in our lives and make sure that our Christian service is a priority and that we do not fall asleep spiritually but serve Jesus as fully as we are able. This is not always easy as there are so many things that can distract us. We need to change the things we can change and to accept the things we cannot change and pray that God will give us the wisdom to know which is which.
Prayer
Almighty God,
thank you for never falling asleep
but constantly hearing our prayers.
Thank you for letting me serve you.
Help me to serve you how you want me to serve
In Jesus name, Amen.