The Cares of this World

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

My grandfather had a great rule of thumb. He would tell me that if something wasn't going to make a difference in my life one year from now; then it wasn't worth worrying about. The truth is that most of us spend an exorbitant amount of time worrying about things that we won't even remember a year from now. Think about all the time you have wasted worrying over things that never amounted to anything! But Jesus reminds us that worry can cost us more than wasted time. If we aren't careful the cares of this life can distract us from the ultimate importance of eternal matters. 

In today's passage Jesus warns us about three things that can weigh our hearts down and cause us to be caught off guard on the day of His return: drunkenness, carousing, and the anxieties of life. It is easy to see how drunkenness could distract us as well as carousing. What comes as a surprise to me is the inclusion of the anxieties of life. We don't normally consider worry to be as dangerous as a drinking problem. I can imagine all manner of Christian friends rushing in to confront a fellow believer over drunkenness, but it's hard to imagine them rushing in to confront a believer about being weighed down by the cares of the world.

But the truth is that all three of these things come from the same root. They all grow out of a heart that is too focused on this world and not nearly focused enough on the next. When a believer gives in to his desires for the things of this world it causes him to either run headlong after these things (as is the case with drunkenness) or to worry over these things incessantly (as is the case with anxiety). Either such a believer's focus has been moved off of eternity and onto the things of this world. He has given this world more weight than it deserves. And the weightier this world seems to us, the more ethereal and abstract heaven appears. Conversely, the more heavily heaven weighs in our thoughts, the more the things of this world are exposed for the hollow shell that they really are.

Jesus' advice shows that my grandfather's rule actually doesn't go quite far enough. We must be careful not to be weighed down by the worries of this life at all. Jesus doesn't ask "Will it matter in a year?" but "Will it matter in eternity?" If not, then don't worry about it. All of us have to live in the reality of this world and sometimes that means doing things like paying bills and washing the car, but we must keep these things in their proper place. We cannot let them begin to push eternity out of our hearts and minds. We must not let the mundane and the meaningless so overwhelm us that we lose sight of our great hope in Christ's return. We dare not become experts in managing the temporary and forget to prepare for the eternal.

For further reading...

• Luke 8:1-15 (esp. vs 14)- The cares of this world can choke your growth in Christ.
• 1 Peter 5:7- Interestingly, this verses uses the same word for anxiety and tells the believer what she should do with her anxiety: cast it on the Lord.

Little Sins: Drunkenness

Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands... Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,

Isaiah 5:11-12, 22

 

 

Though the prophet Isaiah pronounces woe over those who drink too much wine*, our culture almost glorifies it. Our children and teens are raised watching movies that present drunken parties as the height of fun. Much of the most popular music of today centers around themes related to drinking and partying at clubs. So who is right? Why does the Bible pronounce woe on something that seems as harmless as drinking too much alcohol?

 

If you look at what the Bible as a whole has to say about getting drunk, it becomes clear that God pronounces woe on those who drink too much because alcohol is a hard task master. When you look at stories like that of Lot and his daughters (Genesis 19:30-38), or Noah and his sons (Genesis 9:20-27), or even the fall of Elah king of Israel (I Kings 16:8-10), it becomes clear that falling into the trap of drinking too much alcohol can cause great destruction in our lives. But certainly our culture doesn't have to read stories from the Bible to know this. Our world is replete with examples. My own extended family has a history of alcoholism including both those who were verbally and physically abusive when drunk and those who mixed drinking and driving.

These families members of mine were not bad people, they simply fell victim to the destruction that alcohol can bring. Anyone of us, including myself can be bested by alcohol. This is why Proverbs warns us so frequently about drinking in excess. It tells us that the wise man is not taken in by liquor's many charms (Proverbs 20:1). It tells us that drunkenness leads to poverty, strife, sorrow, needless bruises, and bloodshot eyes (Proverbs 23:20-21 and 23:29-35). This isn't God's best for your life. God wants so much more for you, and alcohol has the power to steal it all away from you. There is a good chance, given my family history, that if I ever began drinking alcohol I would become addicted to it and lose control.

For that reason, and because I have an adolescent brother and other teens at my church who I hope look up to me, I have chosen not to drink at all. The potential positives that could come from me drinking in moderation are so very few and the potential negatives so very great, that it simply is not worth it. I urge you to give alcohol a wide berth in your life. Perhaps Ephesians 5:18 says it best, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery [excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures]. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Those of us who are in Christ have been set free from sin, so don't allow yourself to be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1). And those of you who have yet to surrender to Christ will never find what you are looking for at the bottom of a bottle. So again I urge you...find fulfillment in Christ, not in alcohol.

 

For further reading...

• Genesis 19:30-38- Read the tragic story of Lot and his daughters.
• Genesis 9:20-27- Read how drunkenness ruined Noah's relationship with his sons.
• Proverbs 20:1, Proverbs 23:20-21 and 23:29-35- Check out what Proverbs has to say.

* In case you were wondering the Bible does not come right out and teach that drinking alcohol at all is a sin. In fact, it clear from Scripture that Jesus and other laudable Bible characters drank wine. Although it has often been asserted that this wine was not fermented like ours is today, I know of no textual or historical evidence to back this up. Perhaps the fermentation process was different, but it was still fermented. However, as has been demonstrated the Bible clear teaches that getting drunk is a sin, and one that has disastrous consequences. Thus, for the reasons outlined above, I encourage all Christians to consider abstaining from alcohol altogether.