For Thought and Meditation - Saturday, June 26

[Pine Baron]

Good morning all. Boy, did I need this message today (every day)! Have a safe and blessed day.

Saturday, June 26, 2021 - Pastor Greg Laurie
Asleep on the Watch

“Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him.”
—Luke 9:32

It was a bad time to fall asleep.

Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John up a mountain, and He was transfigured there before their eyes. His face shined like the sun and so did His garments. Meanwhile, the three disciples had fallen asleep.

Peter, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, saw a bright light and blurted out, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here!” (Luke 9:33 NLT).

Of course, this would not be the last time the terrific trio would fall asleep on the watch. Later in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said to them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me” (Matthew 26:38 NLT). Then He went a few feet away and began to pray. When Jesus came back, they were all asleep, missing out on a significant event in the life of the Lord.

I wonder how much we miss because of our spiritual slumber. We’re spiritually asleep when God wants to speak to us through His Word. Because we’re too preoccupied with other things, we don’t have the discipline to pick up the Bible and open it.

Or instead of going to church and being fed from the Word of God, we decide to do something else in its place. We’re dozing spiritually.

When the Lord would call on us to speak out for Him, we’re asleep on the watch. And like the disciples, we too, can miss out on what God wants to do in and through us.

Yet Romans 13:11 says to Christians, “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (NLT).

We need to be awake. We need to be alert. And we need to pay attention.

[Wayne Smith]

Perspective does matter! After 2000 years it's sometimes hard to keep this going. Yes, He's with me now but the history is also there. We (the USA) has only been here about 200 years and our beginnings are dimly remembered if at all for most of us. They had between 400 and 500 years since the last Scripture had been given - and history was no more alive to them than it is to us.

LOML is a geologist and is used to thinking in millions of years, that kind of perspective changes how we see the present just as much as a historical one. Romans was probably written sometime around AD 60-70 - and to read urgency from that perspective tends to take the urgency out of it.

[Redd508]

Baron, that's a good truth that we need to be mindful of. I personally struggle with the idea that Church is where we go to be fed from the Word. I know its the language of the "Church" but it often paints a misconception in the minds of believers (seasoned and new alike) that it's the church's job to sustain us. I've heard too many times that we struggle thru our week to be refreshed on Sunday. We should be feeding ourselves, or atleast showing up at the Master's table. If we shifted our perspective a little and looked at the church as a storehouse to bring and serve from our spiritual abundance then maybe we'd be more awake to what He is doing. As we grow our relationship with Him we'll be more sensitive to His voice and be more available to His call. We would also be more prepared and available to our brothers and sisters that need that outpouring or new comers that just arent there yet.

Good post. Thanks for sharing.

[USMC87]

Amen, I needed this to start my day!

[Markopolo]

great message!

[Boaz]

Baron, that's a good truth that we need to be mindful of. I personally struggle with the idea that Church is where we go to be fed from the Word. I know its the language of the "Church" but it often paints a misconception in the minds of believers (seasoned and new alike) that it's the church's job to sustain us. I've heard too many times that we struggle thru our week to be refreshed on Sunday. We should be feeding ourselves, or atleast showing up at the Master's table. If we shifted our perspective a little and looked at the church as a storehouse to bring and serve from our spiritual abundance then maybe we'd be more awake to what He is doing. As we grow our relationship with Him we'll be more sensitive to His voice and be more available to His call. We would also be more prepared and available to our brothers and sisters that need that outpouring or new comers that just arent there yet.

Good post. Thanks for sharing.


Redd508 I thank you ! Very good comment on the lesson today .