"Take heed to yourselves" Luke. 21:34

Dear Kids,
You may remember as you were growing up I always preached a message about this time of year with warnings about Christmas and New Year's. I will give you a few excerpts from some of those messages. You will probably relate to them better now since many of you have families of your own and the temptation to excess will be greater.

“Take heed to yourselves, lest at anytime your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life..." (Lk. 21:34) You don't need to let me know that Jesus is speaking here of His return and that I am taking this out of context. Even so, I want you to know there is never a time when it is safe or right to be spiritually careless. We must “take heed” to ourselves at all times, in all circumstances, and in all seasons lest at anytime our hearts be overcharged, i.e., weighed down, burdened, with the "cares of this life."

I don't think the Lord had in mind in this passage that we become ascetics. We must have legitimate contact with this world we live in. Feasting with food, drink, and the cares of this life are some of the wonderful things we see done in the midst of festivity in the Bible. The first miracle of Jesus was performed at a wedding. Matthew threw a real shindig (Lk. 5:29) and our Lord used it to make a wonderful statement (vv. 31, 32). Jesus ate and enjoyed feasting along with the publicans and sinners. Levi probably had caviar, shrimp, and lobster, and if he did, Jesus no doubt thoroughly enjoyed the feast. The devil didn't make our taste buds, the Lord did.

One time your mother and I were invited to a feast where there supposedly were 200 millionaires from New York City in attendance. We thoroughly enjoyed most of the expensive exquisite dishes that were offered, without a twinge of guilt on our conscience. Caviar was not to my liking, especially when I was dipping into it and the guy next too me said, "That's about the cost of a trip to Europe.” That night I enjoyed some delightful conversations with Deists and others as I witnessed of my faith in Christ.

No, Jesus is not teaching asceticism here; He is warning about excessiveness:

>eating too much until your mind becomes dull and your prayers lifeless, your feasting becoming gluttony, crippling your spiritual life;

>going into debt or spending more than you can afford on gifts
your heart becoming "overcharged" or “anxious” (same root word) about "many things" like Martha in Lk.10:38;

>wives and mothers losing out in the next 10 days by being weighed down with cooking, baking, and serving being careful that what is a legitimate concern does not become promoting your reputation as I remember it often was among my Pennsylvania Dutch mother and her relatives;

>husbands and dads making an innocent pastime into an occasion to sin by watching too much football which can make make eternity less real or desirable.

My prayer is that on January 2 we will all be able to say that this has been a wonderful holiday season and that we are closer to the Lord than when it began.

“Be careful lest at anytime your hearts be overcharged…with the cares of this life."

Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Dad