Matthew 26: 36-46.

Jesus and the Disciples went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. He took three of them in with Him and instructed them to watch with Him. He came back three times and found them sleeping. He told them to “sleep on”.

The Disciples had just made a colossal mistake that they couldn’t undo. They were tired and had failed their Lord by sleeping when they should have been watching. Some mistakes are irreparable. They cause feelings of failure and despair.

We’ve all been there. You may be there now.

But after finding them asleep the third time, Jesus didn’t rebuke them, correct them, nor did He comfort them. He tells them; “the hour is at hand”. Guilt washes over them. They have failed! But then Jesus says, “Rise, let’s be going”. There’s something ahead of greater importance than the past; “Rise. Let us be going”.

The past is past. Don’t linger there. It’s only good for education. Get up! The hour is at hand!

HOPE IS HERE! Get up! Leave the past. Hope now gives faith for the future which destroys despair and feelings of failure.

God is offering hope. Rise. Let us be going.