BE OPEN BEFORE GOD
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there." And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. The He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me." Matthew 26:36-38
Transparency is an oft-overlooked element in our growing closer to Jesus Christ. Intimacy with the Lord requires our full, humble, and honest openness before Him.
Jesus Himself was a wonderful model of openness as He dealt with His disciples. For instance, we discover in today’s reading that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus shared with the disciples His anguish over His upcoming crucifixion and brief separation from God the Father.
Knowing that the sins of the entire world were about to be cast upon Him, Jesus grieved, even to the point of near death. Here was God, clothed in human flesh, was being completely honest, open, and forthright about His emotions. This is how Christ would have us react to Him.
A proud, arrogant, egotistical, self-sufficient Christianity bristles at the thought of such transparency: “Why should I burden God with this when I can handle it myself? I’m just not going to deal with God about this.” Such thinking and behavior go against everything for which God created us.
However, God cherishes and honors a humble, contrite spirit from someone trying to be himself before the Lord. Confess sin, worry, doubt, and fear. He already knows all, but your willingness to intimately share with Him all the details speaks volumes about the bent of your heart.
Prayer: Lord, just as I am, I come before You. Search my heart and make me whole.
Scriptural Reading: Matthew 26:36-46
