The Fourth Quarter

Matthew 26:4835Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.
36¶ Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
37And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
38Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
40And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
41Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
42He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
43And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
44And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
45Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

I love this scripture because it shows just how human both Jesus Christ and disciples were. Yes, Jesus ask God three times to let this cup pass from him. And the he said Thy will be done. The disciples are like me, they were asked wait and pray while Jesus went to pray. They were there to support Jesus and what did they do? They went to sleep. They fell down on their job, of just being supportive of Jesus. Am I asleep? That is the question? Yes at times I'm asleep when I should be bright eyed and bushy tailed waiting on Jesus's command. Yes that is how I find my self way too often.

So here I am sleeping on the job. And maybe as in a football analogy we have to play four quarters. We might get by slacking the first three quarters, and our score could be up, tied, or behind. But when that Fourth quarter gets here you better be playing your best. Not just your best but as perfect as any person can. We can't afford and a fumbled ball or throwing an interception. We've got to play like our life depends on it, because it really dose. The bad thing about life is we don't know what quarter were playing in...ponder that. I think we should live our lives like we were in the fourth quarter everyday and that we have the lead over the devil. But the devil could cause us to fumble or throw that interception. Because the devil comes at us on our blind side and he has us tackled before we know what happened. So the real question is, am I doing God's will or Lisa's. Am I praying daily for God's will to be done in my life, or do I try to tell God what would be best in me in my life. I know I keep God laughing all the time, by wanting for my will be done not his. But I know in my heart that he knows exactly what we need when we need it. And I know that in the fourth quarter, that we will come out with a victory if we just listen and learn from the coach,( yes that means God and The Holy Bible.) So I say put on that whole armor of God and go out on the field (that means the world around me) and get that last touch down that will put us over the top.

So what quarter do you think your in today. I think I'm going to start playing like I'm it my fourth quarter every day. How about you, what quarter do you think your in today. I can make one positively true statement, and that is we just don't know. Are we sleeping when we should be watching and praying. As Jesus did are we saying Lord thy will not my will, and really mean what your saying. How exciting the fourth quarter is, your nearly finished a hard fought battle, your beat up and banged up, but you know you can still win. That we will win. Because Jesus won, he defeated death and the grave, and arose from the grave to save us from our sins. And because he was willing to do the Fathers will. I PLAN TO WIN THIS GAME OF LIFE, HOW ABOUT YOU? And as always forgive my grammar and spelling, that's all my error not God's.