"For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." ~ Deuteronomy14:2

Monday, May 28, 2012

Pleasant Stone Devotional Meditation: May 28

"Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but when they awoke they saw His glory ..." ~ Luke 9:32, Berkeley
Here is another fragment of "blue stone" which settles my [Eugenia Price, the author's] faith more firmly. I need this verse. I am so often "overcome by sleep"!

And not only as I pray, but in the very attitudes of my heart toward Christ. I am so often aware of His need to teach me from the Scriptures as I ride along on a train, and before I know it I am awaking from a nap. I am so often aware of His need for someone I find tiring and almost as I begin to talk about Him, my heart has been "overcome with sleep." I have lost interest.


Before this "blue stone" lighted up for me, I scolded myself for falling asleep in His hour of need, thinking only of the bad example set before me by the sleepy disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. But here in Luke 9:23 is another time they fell asleep. Just at the moment of Christ's transfiguration, the three beloved ones whom He chose to go with Him that day up to the top of the mountain, dozed off! "And while He was praying, the appearance of His face underwent a change and His garment turned a dazzling white ... [and] Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep!

I am like all the rest. It doesn't seem to matter what the Lord is doing. He may be suffering in the garden or touching glory for my sake, if I'm sleepy in my heart, I'll doze off. This is not admirable. It is simply true. But the wonder of this "blue stone" verse is this: even though, at the very moment of His transfiguration, all three disciples went to sleep, "when they awoke they saw His glory!" He never changes. We may sleep. But when we awake, we can still see Jesus.

"... The Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest."

No comments: