Luke 22.46 exclaims, “Asleep! Get up! Pray God that you will not fall when you are tempted.”

Twice in this chapter God invites His followers to pray so that they will not fail when temptation comes. Temptation always comes says God, but whoa to Him through whom temptation comes. While always dangerous to add to God’s words, an argument could be made to add, ‘and whoa to Him who yields to temptation.’

Perhaps this is what the Lord Jesus spent most of His time praying about, it certainly was in His last recorded prayer. Jesus’ work of prayer was the accumulation of spiritual resolve to do God’s will over against His own. Our failure to log large volumes of prayer for spiritual resolve probably explains our vast failure to do and live the will of God in our lives.

How important is our resistance to temptation anyway? Asked another way, how serious does God take sin? God has demonstrated His violence toward sin in at least three major occurrences as recorded in the Bible.

First, He destroyed the entire earth by flood except for 8 people due to the wickedness of humanity. That seems pretty serious.

Second, He destroyed His temple, His people and His first covenant with Israel as a result of their consistent rebellion against Him.

Finally, He sacrificed His own perfect Son as a sacrifice for the sins of all humanity inaugurating His second or new covenant. Even when Jesus asked for an alternative solution God the Father was resolute that His Son should perish. Pretty serious business.

God says one day He will judge every person based upon their obedience to His commands separating Himself for all eternity by fire and torment those who refused to humble themselves before Him while they lived on this earth.

God appears to take sin seriously, we would do well to do the same.