Final hours … {focus}

Thursday’s Reading: Matthew 26:17-46, Mark 14:12-42, Luke 22:7-46, John 13-17

“I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do.”

– Jesus (John 17:4)

On Thursday we find Jesus sending the disciples into Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover meal. That evening they ate the Passover meal in an upper room where Jesus predicted both Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. Late into the night Jesus gives the disciples His final instructions and prays for them. The day closes in the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prays, “Not my will but Yours be done.” In just a few moments Judas will come on the scene…

This week Women’s Bible study started back up. Despite my planning and early mornings I still found myself cramming in all the last minute things that needed to be accomplished. (Fifteen minutes before study started I was at Safeway getting all the refreshments.) It seems like this whenever we go on vacation as well. We plan ahead, but there are still a hundred last-minute things to be done before we can leave. It’s always a little hectic at the last minute.

These passages today are Jesus’ final moments. Thursday is the last day He spends with His disciples before being arrested around midnight. And He’s not just leaving on vacation, He’s leaving earth!  This, the rescue plan of the world, is coming to a close in a few short hours. Is Jesus frantic? Rushing around trying to finish things? Making a few quick rounds to do a few healings? No. He does stay up late giving the disciples His final words then praying His way through the night, but there is no sense of panic or rush. He walked His 33 years on earth with ordered, measured steps, and now, at the close of His time on earth, He can quietly and confidently say to His Father, “I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do.”

Isn’t that what we all long to be able to say on our deathbed someday? I know I do. My greatest heart’s desire is to be able to say, with my final breath,

“I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work You gave me to do.”

Is there anything better? Right now I’m writing the Sacred Mundane chapter on time, and it’s challenging me in beautiful ways. It’s amazing to see Jesus in His final hours, neither rushed nor frantic. Never in a hurry. He walked calmly through this life, completing all the work God gave Him to do and only the work God gave Him to do. Nothing more, nothing less.

What about you? What about me? Am I doing all the work God has given me to do and only the work God has given me to do? Nothing more, nothing less? Do I even know? Have I even asked Him?

There is exactly enough time to accomplish exactly what God intends for me to do today. No more, no less. If I am hurried, rushed, frantic, I wonder the cause? Even yesterday, when several things had slipped my brain and I thought I “fell behind”, I was surprised to discover that every single thing fell into place without a moment to spare. What if the words frantic, hurried, rushed were nowhere in our vocabulary and nowhere in our day?

We can begin today. Today would be the perfect day to let the Lord order our steps, especially as we quiet our hearts and prepare to honor His sacrificial death tomorrow on Good Friday. What if tomorrow was your last day on earth? How would your day be different? What would you teach your children? How would you treat your husband? How would you spend each precious moment?

{Let’s focus on this today. Spending each moment carefully attuned to His leading. Living this day as if it were the last. Unhurried, peaceful, intentional. Bless your day dear ones; thanks for reading.}