In The Garden

It has been said, "a friend is someone who knows you well and still likes you."  Oh, how true that is -- not just of friends but of family.  No one knows my uh-ohs and oh-nos better than my husband and children.  I know it's a scary thought but after all, they eat my "burnt offerings," they see me without makeup, they don't comment on my morning hair, and they know me before the day's first shot of cold caffeine.  But!  So far there’s not been a revolt at home.

 

Man's biggest and worst revolt came about in a garden, and there should have been a revolt in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus knew the answer to His prayer, "Father, let this cup pass from me."  Jesus was facing immeasurable pain and humiliation of death by crucifixion ... and for what?  For the likes of me?  Christ already knew the disgusting details of  how weak my commitment and how shallow my faith would be to Him.  He knew there would times that the world [and my family] would look at me and wonder what

difference God really made in my life.  He even knew that I would fail Him miserably in sharing His great sacrifice and blood redemption for my soul. But!  Something different happened in Jesus’ garden – obedience reigned instead:  obedience of a Son, "For even Christ pleased not Himself ... " (Romans 15:3) to a loving Father, "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him ... " (Isaiah 53:10a).  Nothing mattered except that "love grew where the blood spilled," and a way was made clear for His Son and all His children to return to the Father.  Oh, what a Savior!