Pleasant Stone Devotional Meditation: March 28

"And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me." ~ Matthew 26:37, 38

The same two sons of Zebedee who sought favoritism in the Kingdom and the one whom Jesus knew in just a few hours would deny that he had ever met Him. James and John and Peter were the three the Lord chose to go with Him --- to watch with Him there in the dark of the Garden of Gethsemane. We can rejoice in this. Knowing what He knew about these three, He still chose them because He needed them to be with Him. He will still choose us too. We'll never understand why if we try to find some merit in ourselves. He chooses us because He loves us. He chose Peter and James and John because He loved them too. Knowing full well that they would fall asleep right at the moment He lay struggling on the ground in the dust and the little sharp rocks and the blood and the tears. What a relief it is to know, to begin to remember that Jesus knows about all our past failures, and He knows about all the times still to come when He will "find us asleep." But He still calls us to go with Him as He walks among the violence and the blood and the tears in the shadows of the world, seeking those who are not yet His own. He still pleads with us: "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death: ... the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost ... it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish ... could ye not watch with me one hour?" Perhaps He has chosen you to "watch with him" over someone who has driven you to the breaking point! He chose John and James and Peter too. If we fall asleep, we can always wake up and go on with Him.

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you ..."