Luke 21.34“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
What are we told here? What is it the Lord told us we should be careful of so our hearts would not be weighed down?
1. Carousing
2. Drunkenness
3. The anxieties of life.
Now, we must pay careful attention to these clues because the clues point to a time. What is the nature of these days in which we must be careful? How much carousing, drunkenness and "anxieties of life" do you think will be seen during the tribulation?
What does carousing mean? Drink plentiful amounts of alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way.
So carousing happens when people are drinking and enjoying oneself with others in a noisy, lively way. Can you picture anyone of us enjoying ourselves in a noisy lively way during the tribulation? How about those 'anxieties of life' the Lord mentions? How do I read that? The normal anxieties of life, pay the bills, go to work, deal with the normal day in and day out problems of life. Notice the Lord said the anxieties of life and not "being hunted down by the anti-christ" etc. Do you think being hunted down by the forces of the anti-christ will weight people's hearts down? Yea, but the Lord does not say that. He is pointing to a different time.
When it this time the Lord points to? A normal day, a day like today. The days of this particular warning apply to a relatively normal time, a somewhat prosperous time when at least the illusion of prosperity still exists for many.
Why does the Lord warn us of this time? Because that is when the escape from all occurs. "Escape from all that is about to happen" are the Lord's Words not mine. There is an escape we should pray for, and "always be on the watch" for (again the Lord's Words, not mine).
38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come
Key Words above are "before the flood." The days before the flood were normal days...
There is stress and pressure on this world from every side. The economies of the world are crumbling. Fish deaths and bird deaths and every other kind of death are rising exponentially every day along with massive unprecedented earth changes. Socially and politically the world is in a massive upheaval. What does this mean? Unprecedented change is barreling toward us like a freight train. So what? So, in the days ahead we will need the Lord and the power and presence of the Lord more than ever.
There is no substitute for the personal presence and power of the Lord moment by moment in our lives. At the moment of need, which may arise suddenly, we must have Him right then, right there in full presence and power with us.
Thus the writing on this blog has focused on the fundamental aspects of our faith for some time now. What was the Lord's instruction to this writer for 2014? Be a man who walks with God and do whatever good your hands can find to do. What does it mean to be a man who walks with God? What does it mean to pray continually? These are questions for you to ponder along with me because it is this writer's firm belief that this is what you have been called to along with me.
This is the Lord's blog, not mine. Lord willing this writer will not get in the way of the message He would communicate through this nobody. If you read the words written on this blog, there is a reason that has nothing to do with the human who types these words.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you, and may He grant you peace. Be watching and ready.
