Sixty Minutes

Very early Sunday morning you and I get a gift this weekend. You did not have to ask for it and you don't have to do anything to get it. It's free. It's time to set our clocks back which means that we are given an extra 60 minutes. Like most folks I will set my clock back when I go to sleep. I haven't met anyone that actually gets up at 2am to reset their clock! That would be silly, wouldn't it?
I am already thinking about that hour. How important could that hour be? What if I were to find something I liked to do and then I did it again in my extra hour. That could be fun! Or I could use that freebie sixty minutes to rectify a mistake I made in an earlier hour...kind of like a do-over!
You may think that an hour doesn't mean much. I remember when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying about the calling upon his life and knowing that the religious authorities had already sent a group to arrest him. He asked Peter, James and John to watch and pray while he agonized in prayer on his own. After some time he came back and found the boys sleeping! Jesus said, "could you not pray for just an hour?" Couldn't you have stood int the gap with me for just sixty minutes? Perhaps Jesus wanted them to know that one hour could truly make a difference. Funny how our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak.
They could have used that hour better. This weekend, most of us will use it like Peter, James and John did. We will be happy because we get an extra hour of sleep. But what if we got radical? What if we were to stay awake during that hour and pray? What might happen if we all used that 60 minutes to glorify God and pray for each other? Maybe we would find clarity in our life's purpose. Or healing might occur in our bodies, our relationships...our families. Could you just pray for one hour? Sixty minutes of conversation with your maker? Take advantage of it this weekend...it's free!