Be on your guard
"Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come on all who live on the face of the whole earth. But be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man." Luke 21:34-36
Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from (careless living). . .worries of life (summary mine)
But be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape. . .to stand before the Son of Man
I was reading this passage this evening as part of my personal reading through the gospel of Luke and these verses caught my attention. There is a sense of urgency here. There are commands to be alert and to be on one's guard.
"Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, . . ." 1 Peter 5:8-9a
"Therefore, with your minds ready for action ('girding up the loins of your mind,' another translation says), be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:13
"The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer." 1 Peter 4:7
The first thing that caught my attention was the warning not to become dull in our thinking with worry. How does worry dull our thinking? It seems easier to understand how drunkenness and partying could do that - an outside substance/influence or wild living can take our thinking, our ability to reason, hostage. But, worry?
What is worry but believing something that is not true? Or living as if something possible is reality, when it isn't? Can you see how this would affect our thinking? Can you see how this would get in the way of clear, logical, truth-filled thinking and thus slow us down in our ability to stand alert and be ready? If we live in an alternate reality, a 'what if' reality, then we are not present in this one. The things we should see coming we cannot because we are too distracted with unrealistic possible outcomes. Worry is a distraction from reality. It is belief in a lie.
How do we, then, remain alert and on guard against this unrealistic, sloppy, mentally-dulled thinking? Luke, or rather, Christ, provides the answer to that question: Alertness, prayer, and truth-flooded thinking. Prayer is spending time with the Author of truth. When we pray and seek God's face, God's counsel, get God's perspective through time spent with Him and in His Word, He changes our perspective so that we see things as they truly are - we look at the world around us, reality, as it truly is and not as the world would have us see it.
Another interesting, albeit obvious, observation is that alertness is centered in the mind. It is found in the seat of our thinking. Paul reminds us to:
"Pay careful attention, then to how you live - not as unwise people, but as wise - making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. So don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled with the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ." Ephesians 5:25-21
We are to understand what the Lord's will is. We are to be filled with the Spirit, controlled by the Spirit, and not by substances/influences that dull our thinking and lead to reckless living. Our minds to be habitually filled with truth and responding to that truth with thanksgiving and the edification of our fellow believers.
What is the end result of this sober thinking? Why are we warned, encouraged, pushed to live this way? What reasons are given? Or, on the flip side, what are the consequences if we don't?
"that day will come upon you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come on all who live on the face of the whole earth."
"praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man."
"set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
"The end of all things is near,"
"making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."
We are living in the last days before the return of Christ and His judgment upon the earth. The days we live in are evil. We have been promised by the Lord that the last days will be 'just like the days of Noah' (i. e.: drunken, godless carousing, complete disregard for God and his warnings of judgment). Those days are now. We live in a world that "is under the sway of the evil one" (1 John 5:19). We live with an enemy who "prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). We live with an enemy who schemes and plots against us (Ephesians 6:11) and we stand in opposition to demonic forces who are more powerful than we are (Ephesians 6:12). We live in a world designed to draw our desires, our appetites, our satisfaction away from God (1 John 2:15-17). No wonder Paul exhorts us to get/have our minds "ready for action" (1 Peter 1:13)! We are at war! If we do not stand ready and alert at all times, we will be caught unaware sudden judgment comes, when Christ returns. We will be susceptible to the enemy's lies, distracted by unrealistic thinking, and overcome by influences that control us rather than being controlled by the Spirit. Our perspective on reality will be screwed up (royally!).
Praise the Lord that we are not expected to draw on our own resources to maintain this diligence, vigilance, alertness. Paul reminds us where the source of our strength lies:
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. . . .that you may be able resist in the evil day" (Ephesians 6:10-11,13)
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will he not also grant us everything?" (Romans 8:31-32)
"I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
So, be encouraged. Be alert. Be on your guard. He has overcome the world! If you know Him, you can have peace in the midst of these evil days.
"Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen." (Jude 24-25)
Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from (careless living). . .worries of life (summary mine)
But be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape. . .to stand before the Son of Man
I was reading this passage this evening as part of my personal reading through the gospel of Luke and these verses caught my attention. There is a sense of urgency here. There are commands to be alert and to be on one's guard.
"Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, . . ." 1 Peter 5:8-9a
"Therefore, with your minds ready for action ('girding up the loins of your mind,' another translation says), be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:13
"The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer." 1 Peter 4:7
The first thing that caught my attention was the warning not to become dull in our thinking with worry. How does worry dull our thinking? It seems easier to understand how drunkenness and partying could do that - an outside substance/influence or wild living can take our thinking, our ability to reason, hostage. But, worry?
What is worry but believing something that is not true? Or living as if something possible is reality, when it isn't? Can you see how this would affect our thinking? Can you see how this would get in the way of clear, logical, truth-filled thinking and thus slow us down in our ability to stand alert and be ready? If we live in an alternate reality, a 'what if' reality, then we are not present in this one. The things we should see coming we cannot because we are too distracted with unrealistic possible outcomes. Worry is a distraction from reality. It is belief in a lie.
How do we, then, remain alert and on guard against this unrealistic, sloppy, mentally-dulled thinking? Luke, or rather, Christ, provides the answer to that question: Alertness, prayer, and truth-flooded thinking. Prayer is spending time with the Author of truth. When we pray and seek God's face, God's counsel, get God's perspective through time spent with Him and in His Word, He changes our perspective so that we see things as they truly are - we look at the world around us, reality, as it truly is and not as the world would have us see it.
Another interesting, albeit obvious, observation is that alertness is centered in the mind. It is found in the seat of our thinking. Paul reminds us to:
"Pay careful attention, then to how you live - not as unwise people, but as wise - making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. So don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled with the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ." Ephesians 5:25-21
We are to understand what the Lord's will is. We are to be filled with the Spirit, controlled by the Spirit, and not by substances/influences that dull our thinking and lead to reckless living. Our minds to be habitually filled with truth and responding to that truth with thanksgiving and the edification of our fellow believers.
What is the end result of this sober thinking? Why are we warned, encouraged, pushed to live this way? What reasons are given? Or, on the flip side, what are the consequences if we don't?
"that day will come upon you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come on all who live on the face of the whole earth."
"praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man."
"set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
"The end of all things is near,"
"making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."
We are living in the last days before the return of Christ and His judgment upon the earth. The days we live in are evil. We have been promised by the Lord that the last days will be 'just like the days of Noah' (i. e.: drunken, godless carousing, complete disregard for God and his warnings of judgment). Those days are now. We live in a world that "is under the sway of the evil one" (1 John 5:19). We live with an enemy who "prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). We live with an enemy who schemes and plots against us (Ephesians 6:11) and we stand in opposition to demonic forces who are more powerful than we are (Ephesians 6:12). We live in a world designed to draw our desires, our appetites, our satisfaction away from God (1 John 2:15-17). No wonder Paul exhorts us to get/have our minds "ready for action" (1 Peter 1:13)! We are at war! If we do not stand ready and alert at all times, we will be caught unaware sudden judgment comes, when Christ returns. We will be susceptible to the enemy's lies, distracted by unrealistic thinking, and overcome by influences that control us rather than being controlled by the Spirit. Our perspective on reality will be screwed up (royally!).
Praise the Lord that we are not expected to draw on our own resources to maintain this diligence, vigilance, alertness. Paul reminds us where the source of our strength lies:
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. . . .that you may be able resist in the evil day" (Ephesians 6:10-11,13)
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will he not also grant us everything?" (Romans 8:31-32)
"I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
So, be encouraged. Be alert. Be on your guard. He has overcome the world! If you know Him, you can have peace in the midst of these evil days.
"Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen." (Jude 24-25)
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