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Luke 21:34 “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap;
Luke 21:35 for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.
Luke 21:36 “But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
What are the weights? The Lord Jesus gives us three, really two:
1) dissipation and drunkenness – too loose.
2) worries of life, decisions, – too many.
Results? “The day” – of the Lord’s return or of death – catches us “suddenly like a trap.”
Rare? No, the masses of humanity (“all who dwell on the face of the earth”) get caught in the trap.
What to do? 1) Watch – “keep on the alert.” Watch yourself, your choices, your heart. 2) “Pray.” Ask for strength to escape. I’ve seen wrestlers escape the hold because they had the strength. A firefighter I know had a wall fall on him in a fire. He had strength enough to lift the weight off of him and escape. Be strong in the Lord. Only deep awareness of spiritual and eternal realities will withstand the lure of things, things, “all these things.”
Essential? Only those who withstand it now, can “stand before the Son of Man” then. Keep the weights thrown off if you will stand. All others are banished to eternal destruction – hell.
The essence? There are various duties and callings, but keep your “heart” free of the weights and full of God.
Bob Jennings