Prone to Wander

Prone to Wander

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.” — Luke 21:34 (NIV)

As Jesus makes his way ever closer to the cross, He begins to speak of his return. Our scripture for today is part of what we call the Olivet Discourse: where Jesus is teaching about and describing the coming judgment, the destruction of Jerusalem, and ultimately His return. His Second Coming.

Of course, specifically regarding His second coming, Jesus said, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes, famines and pestilences...fearful events and great signs from heaven... in sun and moon and stars... and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity... because of the roaring of the sea and the waves... people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Of course, the fact that these are “red-letter” words, spoken by Jesus, should give us all pause, and it should least grab our attention!

Then Jesus “softens the blow” in verse 28 of chapter 21, as he offered a word of comfort to His disciples... by saying, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Christ’s return will be a dark day for the lost... but a day of redemption for us.

Of course, Jesus could have stopped there... but Jesus knew (and knows) the heart of man. So he offered a warning (not to the pagan, and reprobate... but to His children... to us). “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.”

Like I said last Sunday, the Christian life not a list of “shall and shall nots” - it can’t be boiled down to a neat check-list of laws and regulations. Obeying God’s Word is crucial in the life of a believer... and there’s a very strong and tangible ethical component to following Christ, no doubt. But following Christ is about much more than just knowing the right things, and saying the right things. Following Christ includes our motives, our intentions, and our affections. And for Jesus, keeping watch over our hearts, guarding our hearts, is of critical importance. And this is a repeated theme throughout the old and new Testaments.

*Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things...”

*Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

*Luke 6:45: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart... For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

Guarding our hearts is so important, that when Jesus spoke of His return, He warned His disciples that the greatest danger wasn’t merely persecution or opposition from the world... the greatest threat to us, as disciples of Christ, is the condition of our heart. If we fail to guard our hearts, it could lead to the dulling of our soul.

Notice what Jesus places side by side. He warns against obvious sins (overt sins) like drunkenness and reckless living, but He also warns against “the anxieties of life.” That is striking. Because we like to project the focus away from us... look at “their” sin... look at how “they’re” living (the obvious, overt sins of others)... and Jesus won’t let us get away with it. He points out the obvious failings, no doubt, but then turns the spotlight back on us... our hearts, and all the things that distract us, and disrupt our communion with Christ. The day-in and day-out pressures and worries and trials of this world, that can certainly dull our souls.

One person withdraws from Christ through pleasure; another withdraws because of life’s burdens. Yet both lead to the same place... to apathy and estrangement from Christ. Jesus is serious about where we seek our comfort and where we cast our afflictions. “Come unto ME, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” And so He warns us...

“Be careful” Be careful... the language of a parent who’s watching their child take their first steps, or ride a bicycle for the first time. “Be careful.” Compassionate, loving words... calling us to be vigilant and aware, because the one offering the phrase loves us, and is concerned very deeply about our life.

Jesus says, “Be careful” because He knows our hearts are prone to drift. Like the old hymn reminds us, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.”

Unless we’re intentional about it... and we persistently, continually, and deliberately “press on toward the goal” - and seek regular refreshment thru God’s Word and prayer and faithful worship, our hearts can become weighed down by the things of this world, to the point of distraction. And the Day of the Lord could find us cowering in our anxiety RATHER than STANDING in our redemption. It all harkens back to Jesus’ question back in chapter 18, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Faithful Presbyterians have long recognized that the Christian life is one of continual repentance and faith. Of course, we do not (and we cannot) keep ourselves by our own strength. It’s the Holy Spirit who preserves us through ordinary means of grace - God’s Word, prayer, worship, the fellowship of believers, and the Sacraments (Lord’s Supper). These are God’s appointed means of keeping our hearts awake until Christ returns.

The hope of Christ’s coming is not intended to frighten His people... but to focus them. Every day is another opportunity to live with eternity in view. Every anxious thought becomes an invitation to cast our cares upon the Lord. Every temptation to worldly distraction becomes another reminder that our true treasure is not in this world, but in Christ alone.

And the really Good News, and greatest benefit and blessing of following Christ, is that the believer watches and waits... not because we fear losing Christ... but because Christ has graciously laid hold of us. Those whom Christ saves, He also keeps. Therefore, we remain alert—not to earn His favor, but because we long to serve... and one day see... the One who first loved us.