“Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before. When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say” (NLT).

The second invitation to keep watch was for the purpose of avoiding sin. Jesus came back to Peter, James, and John and found them asleep. A sentry cannot be effective if they are asleep on their watch. You cannot see if your eyes are closed. The problem is many of us go through life asleep, with our eyes shut, not realizing what is hunting us in the night. Having experienced the lure of temptation during Jesus’ last night, Peter reminds us to “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). When we are spiritually asleep, we are left completely vulnerable and exposed to the enemy lurking in the shadows. We will not see him coming. Make no mistake, the enemy will attack you. He attacks with charm, attraction, and enticement. They are sweet sounding lies – lies that reflect just enough light that they sound exactly like the truth, but they are not. When we are spiritually asleep, we will not even be able to recognize these lies. The danger in being asleep is not that the enemy will attack us, as he will assault us either way, but when we are asleep, we cannot see Jesus. We are exposed because we have taken our eyes off Jesus. How can we see that the living God is right beside us, standing with us through the night, shedding His own blood in battle on our behalf, if our eyes are closed? The enemy knows our eyes are closed. He wants them to stay closed. He wants us to forget that Jesus is beside us. If we forget who stands with and for us, we have lost.

“Couldn’t you watch with Me even one hour?” This may sound like a rebuke, but Jesus spoke this in the spirit of compassion. It is truly a beautiful thing to comprehend the complete understanding God has for our condition. He knows our hearts. He knows our struggles. He knows the temptations we are facing every minute. He knows we do not have the strength in us to stay awake through the night. That is why Jesus invites us to keep watch with Him. He is the One who has the strength to keep us through the night. For He says to us “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT). “Keep watch and pray [with Me], so you will not give into temptation.”

The willingness of our spirit to be with Jesus is constantly under attack by the cravings of the flesh. “For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” The weakness of our flesh will always result in the same thing. Even if our intentions are good, we are striving to stay awake in our own strength and hence we will fail. We fail because we have not yet fully surrendered to the grace God has lavished on us. Instead, we are still trying to take control. Keeping watch with Jesus is about surrendering our control into His hands. It is trusting that all we need is an unyielding focus on Jesus to keep us steady through the long night.

“When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say.” Temptation rules over us so easily because we are blind to the power of Christ working in us. We are asleep to what God is doing all around us. The disciples did not know what to say. As watchmen, do we understand the authority we have in Christ? Do we know and believe that we have the power in the Name of Jesus to rebuke the darkness and tell it to go? How many times do we listen to the lies of enemy in the night and give in to sin because we did not know what to say? We did not know to call upon the Name of the Lord. If our eyes were fixed steadfast on Christ, the first words on our lips, at the prompt of sin, would be “get behind me Satan!”

It comes down to a choice. How much do we want to remain in the presence of Jesus? To keep watch with Jesus is to remain in the intimacy of His council and be renewed continually by His strength. To fall asleep is to stay behind, opening yourself up to the onslaught of temptations.

Oh Lord, wake us up! May our eyes never falter from Yours. May we always choose to remain in You.