I love coffee. Not just in the winter, but all year having the warm caffeine flowing through my body is truly a joy. The caffeine that courses through me is much appreciated with having three adventurous kids so I can stay awake (and alive?). Could I have an addiction to it?
Possibly. However, I will leave that issue on the table for now. Whether you like coffee, energy drinks, or whatever else it may be, it seems many people are seeking to stay awake these days.
We want to stay awake so we can work, be with friends, or just to survive the day. However, despite my love for coffee, I see that coffee is not able to wake me up in one of the most important ways of life. Communion with God.
When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, he told his disciples to pray so that they may not enter into temptation. He goes off to pray so passionately, so desperately in his darkest hour, that he sweats drops of blood. When he returns, his disciples are asleep. Talk about a sad sight for Jesus! While he is awake, alive, and fighting off physical and spiritual sleep, his disciples are fast asleep. Ouch, into temptation they go.
Fast forward to 40 days later at the festival of Pentecost and thankfully they are starting to catch on and obey the Lord. They are praying together.
Unsure about what the next step is with their fearless leader not physically there, they do what he did. Pray so that they do not enter into temptation. They were living in dark times and they needed guidance, and they believed that God could actually give it to them. Through prayer.
Why do we fall asleep so easily? Not just physically, but spiritually we become sleepy and fall into the temptation to the comforts of life rather than seeking first the kingdom of God.
Why is prayer the thing we want to get back into schools but can’t seem to maintain in our churches and our own lives?
Why would we think we are better than the apostles and the early church thinking that we don’t need to pray to not enter into temptation? Are we better than they are?
Does it change now that we have google, energy drinks, and massive amounts of coffee for purchase? I don’t think so.
Some people think they are awake today because they are on the “right side of history” and would consider themselves “woke.”
But is that really what we are called to when Jesus said to resist temptation and stay awake? Are we supposed to be the ones up on current events and always give an opinion? All the while we are actually dead inside, not alive, not awake with God’s passion and purpose.
Being alive and awake does not mean having a passionate opinion about everything. The picture of what Jesus gave us in the garden where he was awake, dare I say, the most awake person ever, while being in communion with the Father is what we should follow.
To be awake is to see that we can speak to God, that we have a will, and he has a will, and that we should surrender that will and follow God’s will.
To stay awake in these days is not being up to date on current events but up to date on the will of God. What is he doing and saying? What is he wanting? Well, that takes time of surrender for any person to slow down, open the word, and speak directly to the Father through Jesus.
Please hear this as an invitation into something greater than you could ever get with a cup of coffee. Hear the invitation from Jesus himself saying stay awake and pray. And when you do, you will find yourself more alive than you have ever been before.
