"The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Matthew 26:36-45
₃₆Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." ₃₇He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ₃₈Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." ₃₉Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." ₄₀Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. ₄₁"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." ₄₂He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." ₄₃When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ₄₄So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. ₄₅Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

It's New Year's Eve and it's about 9PM. A little boy begs and pleads with his mother, "Please let me stay up to watch the ball drop!" His mother, knowing how tired her son is says, "No, you're tired, you'll just fall asleep." The boy begs and pleads some more and his mother caves in. The boy sits down on the couch in front of the television and is asleep by 9:30. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

How often do we break promises to ourselves? We promise that we're going to start getting better grades, but we never study and we put off our homework. We promise to start showing up earlier for work, but we sleep in. We promise we're going to stop doing that sin and that very same day, we've committed it 1-10 times already. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

Jesus understood this as one of the men He brought with Him was Peter, one of the most overzealous disciples found in the Bible. Earlier that night, Peter proclaimed, "Never will I fall away from you, even if everyone else does." Later that night, he would strike one of those who came to arrest Jesus with his sword and then even later he denied Jesus three times. Upon denying Jesus, Peter's body probably trembled with the fear of torture and death, Peter's body was weak. So one can imagine when Jesus asked for Peter to go and pray with him, Peter probably jumped at the chance. But Peter was human, with a body stricken by sin with worldly needs, like rest.

Peter fell asleep, though Jesus commanded him not to. Jesus understood Peter's commitment, He understood Peter's love for Him. That's why He also understood Peter needed a Savior from sin. Peter was far from perfect, Peter on his own could do nothing Holy, that's why the very next day Jesus would go to the cross to make all, including Peter, Holy in God's sight.

My heart is filled with love for Christ. I love sharing His message and look forward to being with Him. So why in an hour, or tonight, or three months from now, have I kept on sinning? My spirit is willing, my body is weak. My body will be weak until it is glorified on the last day. My heart however will continue to long for Jesus, that's why I trust and depend on Him for every need until He has eternally provided for me.