And I Slept

I had been following Jesus and His apostles in the crowd for days now

We returned to Judea and had just a day ago left the home of Lazarus,

He was the man who Jesus had raised from the dead

It had been incredible! I had seen it myself! He was truly the Son of God!

I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. This was history, and I was there!

And entering Jerusalem with Him with all those people cheering

I couldn’t believe I was part of all this. Why me?

I was side by side with those who had followed Him for so long

Later almost everyone went to friends homes to celebrate the Passover

And Jesus had gone that night to dine with His closest, His apostles

I waited outside, just to get another glimpse of Him after supper

And later followed them all to the garden just outside the city gates

Gethsemene they called it

One of His apostles came to me and told me to stay with them

As Jesus went off alone like He often did, to pray

We waited and waited patiently in the night

Then after talking a long while by the fire, it got quiet

And I slept

He came back and we awoke briefly

To hear Him ask us to wait a little longer for Him

He left and we talked again about Him by the fire for a while

And I slept

Then in what seemed an instant He awoke us yet again saying sadly

Why do you sleep? Can you not wait one hour with me?

He went back to pray again and we tried to stay awake, but failed again

He was right there, with us, but I was so weak and impatient

And I slept

Lord help me to stay awake to Your grace in my life

To stay awake to all You ask me to do

To stay awake to those who are needy

To stay awake to avoid all temptation

And never grow weary of talking of You

May I never sleep in my faith again.

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