Soakin' Up Life . . . at a 100 MPH!

Was reading Luke 22-24 this morning.  As I finished, the thought hit me, " What would I do if I knew tonight would be my last night on earth? " To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what I would do.  I've heard people say all sorts of things about  how they would spend their last night on earth, from partying all night long to giving everything they owned away to just about anything you can dream up. Jesus knew this would be his last night on earth.  It was the last night he would have to spend with his buddies and family.  It was the last night he would share his earthly form with us.  It was the last night that he could do whatever he wanted.  Yet, Jesus didn't spend partying like it was 1999.  He didn't check off stuff from a bucket list.  He didn't even gather his family around him to tell them goodbye. Instead, Jesus spent his last night on earth praying, teaching, fellowshipping, and preparing the apostles for what was about to happen.  Jesus'

As we prepare for Easter I was thinking about Judas.  Kinda wierd, huh?  I mean who thinks about Judas?  Wasn't he the one who betrayed Jesus to the Chief Priests?  Yes, he was.  Wasn't he the one who stabbed his friend, Jesus, in the back?  Yep, one in the same. I'm not sure why Judas did it.  Depending on which version of Scripture you read, Judas was tempted by the devil (John 13:2).  And he gave in to that temptation.  In doing so he went and made a deal with the teachers of the law and the Chief Priests to lead them to Jesus to be arrested. It was Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane that led Jesus to be wrongfully tried and persecuted and eventually to his death on the cross.  There is so much in all this - God's sovereignty, man's free will, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've read that passage and thought, " Man, I wouldn't want to be Judas! "  This morning as I was reading through the events of the last week of J