Week 40: Choose Your Side

Day:  279          Verses Memorized:  765          Working On:  Finishing Chapter 18

My Progress:
I've been doing this for 40 weeks.  It has become a new way of life.  I am just about done with Chapter 18 and will need a couple more days to smooth it out.  I am so close to the end and it's getting really exciting.

Some Thoughts:
18:4  "Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, 'who is it you want?'"  Jesus was in the olive grove with His disciples.  When the detachment of soldiers came, Jesus went out to meet them!  We know how deeply troubled He was and yet we see how eager He was to fulfill the Father's will.  Once again, I am unable to comprehend a love like that.

18:6  "When Jesus said, 'I am he,' they drew back and fell to the ground."  The commentaries say that this doesn't mean "I am He."  It means, "I AM."  Jesus was stating that He was indeed God.  And what an awesome thing that at the mere mention of His identity, He is able to knock hundreds of soldiers off their feet.  And I'm glad that John adds the detail that Judas was standing there with them.

18:18  "It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm."  Now, I am a woman who absolutely abhors being cold.  I can't stand it.  The fact that it was cold just makes this night seem even more awful to me.

18:21  "When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face."  So this is exactly what I've been dreading since I began this whole process.  All these many weeks, I have had an underlying fear of getting to this point.  Now I am here and I don't like it.  It makes me uncomfortable and breaks my heart.  I don't know if I want to memorize what my sin did to Jesus.  When I got to this verse, I learned it absolutely as quickly as I possibly could.  I didn't want to say it over and over again, so I read it twice and really concentrated on it.  Unfortunatey, I know the worst is yet to come.

18:27  "Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow."  I can't imagine the remorse Peter felt as he wept bitterly over his betrayal of Jesus.  And yet, I remember the countless times I choose to betray Him with my sin.

18:37  "...for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."  I'm relieved to know that I have chosen the side of truth and I am thankful that I have the opportunity to listen to Him.  While I am flawed, broken, and fully dependant on Him for everything, it is my joy to serve Him.

Choose your side, folks.