John 18:11
Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

The cup Jesus was given was a bitter drink indeed, sour as the vinegar they would offer Him to drink.  But it was given to Him by His Father.  It was His Father’s will for Him, so He would consume every last drop of that cup.  It wasn’t a time to go to war, but a time to surrender to the Father.  It wasn’t time to fight with swords, but recognize the spiritual battle raging around them.  It wasn’t time to knock down a soldier, but to crush the serpent.  It wasn’t time to rise up against the Romans or even the Pharisees, but to overcome sin and death and hell once and for all.

Sometimes there is a bigger purpose, and we must bear up under what God has given us to do.  So may our own heart be to drink fully every cup the Father gives to us, no matter how bitter, and may He enable us to bear it with the same grace and strength with which Jesus bore His.  Jesus always went first to set the example for us to follow, and He did so up until the very end of His life on Earth.  And even in this unjust crucifixion, He showed us that the Father’s will must be done.

These are not the times to wage small battles, but to focus on the bigger enemy at hand.  These are the times to stop looking at only what is right in front of us and understand what God is trying to do, what His purposes are.  It’s not the time to fight the world around us just to say we are right or prove some point, but it’s time to stand up for Jesus and introduce the lost world around us to a Savior who can take away their sins and the power it holds over them.  It’s time to stop seeing the people around us as our enemies and start fighting the real enemy lurking about like a lion trying to devour every soul in his path.

May we simply be willing to do whatever God asks us to do.  May we set aside our own ambitions, our own comforts, even our very lives to obey God in whatever He has for each of us individually.  May we move forward with determination to our Jerusalem and not turn aside when that cup is handed to us.  And may we drink every last drop, because we can trust the Father who has given it to us.  So let us accept His will for our lives no matter what it entails and, like Jesus, obey until the very end.