PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Luke 21:34-38
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down.” (Luke 21:34)
There seems to be a relationship between the things that Jesus warns about.
He mentions carousing/drunkenness, and then anxieties.
These are representative for many kinds of things that can weigh us down.
In my experience, the one feeds into the other, and vice versa.
Our sin-messed world and separation from God make us very anxious.
Satan loves to stir up our anxieties, often about non-existent concerns.
One way to manage those anxious feelings is through pleasure.
Carousing and drunkenness, immersing oneself in pain-numbing experiences.
But these addictive experiences only produce more trouble, more anxiety.
Excessive anxiety and self-indulgence are a fitting description of our world today.
Even Jesus followers find themselves weighed down by these things.
“Be always on the watch and pray” (21:36); am I practicing this kind of diligence?
Would continuous prayer help me with my own anxieties and indulgences?
Do I see these as a “trap” (v.34), and am I taking steps to fight them?
PRAYER
Lord, help me not to feed my anxieties and indulgences; help me to fight them! Impress it on my heart that I am under attack, and the enemy’s sole purpose is to weigh me down, to ruin me!
Anxiety can weigh me down. I worry about things -even in preparation – this does weigh me down. Jesus warns me to be careful – it must not affect my being ready for the day that he calls me home or he returns. Help me not to be so busy with the things of life to forget what’s most important – to be at peace in the presence of Jesus. Help me to escape the trappings of this world – to be able to focus on Jesus.
Come to Jesus.
In times like these, I need to talk to the Lord. I need always to take all my cares and troubles to Him. Jesus is the answer and He makes it a possibility to live for Him at all times. I can meet the challenges of the day only when I lean upon Him.
Jesus is the answer.
I need to listen to Him.
I need to hear His voice saying, Follow Me.
1 Cast all your cares upon the Lord,
Who careth still for you;
Your pray’rs shall ever more be heard:
Yes, heard and answer’d too.
2 O! watch and pray in all your lives;
Resist the Devil’s pow’r!
Who like a roaring Lion strives,
Your souls for to devour.
3 O be ye stedfast, strong in hope
Preserve a living faith!
That will support and bear you up,
Against the pow’rs of death.
4 Should we refuse the Cross to bear?
To shew the Saviour’s name;
Our faithful brethern every where,
Do ever bear the same.
5 And after suff’ring here awhile,
The sorrows ye may meet;
All our afflictons, pain and toil,
Will make our joys complete.
6 The God of love, of peace and grace,
Your Great and Mighty friend!
Establish you in all his ways,
Until your warfare end.