When I meditate on these words, I am taught that I must offer my own life, as well as the lives of my beloved wife and children, to the Lord and that we must all obey Him until we die.

When I meditate on these words, I am taught that I must offer my own life, as well as the lives of my beloved wife and children, to the Lord and that we must all obey Him until we die.

 

 

Finally, Jesus went to a place called Gethsemane, where He left eight of His disciples in one place and took three of them with Him to another location.  He left them there and went a little farther, fell face down, and prayed to God the Father, saying: 'Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will' (Matthew 26:36-39, Korean Modern Bible).  Wouldn't it have been better if, instead of sharing His deep distress with the 11 disciples, excluding Judas Iscariot, and asking them to 'stay here and keep watch with me,' He had prayed alone to God the Father?  If it were me, I would have shared my troubled heart with those 11 beloved brothers and then asked for their prayers to pray together.  But Jesus did not do so.  Jesus chose to be alone with God the Father.  Jesus went alone and prayed to God the Father."  And Jesus first prayed to God the Father, saying, 'Please take this cup of suffering away from me.'  When I meditate on this 'cup of suffering,' I remember when the mother of John and James came to Jesus and asked, 'Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.' Jesus responded to her, saying, 'You don't know what you are asking.  Can you drink the cup of suffering I am going to drink?' (Matthew 20:20-22, Korean Modern Bible).  Jesus first prayed to God the Father to take away the 'bitter cup of suffering' that He had to drink.  But Jesus prayed, 'Yet not as I will, but as you will' (26:39, Korean Modern Bible).  Even though Jesus was 'greatly distressed' and said, 'My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,' He laid down His will and prayed to God the Father to obey His will, even to the point of death.  After this, just as He had prayed, Jesus 'became obedient to death—even death on a cross.' (Philippians 2:8, Korean Modern Bible).  As I meditate on this passage, I learn that we must obey the Lord unto death, not only offering our own lives but also the lives of our beloved wife and children, surrendering them to the Lord."