Watch Yourself

Daily Reading:  Luke 21

Scripture Focus: But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. (Luke 21.34)

Devotional Thought:  If an urgent news broadcast interrupted Shark Tank and told me that the uprisings and wars I had been hearing about were coming to my town, that I would be seized and persecuted, that I would be betrayed by folks who said they had my back, and that I could be put to death, I would turn off the TV and start praying!  I would be getting all things in my life straight! I would seek God’s face for direction in the hard times ahead!  I would be doing all I could to ensure that those around me were ready for the end!!

Or would I?  Maybe there would be other things that I would choose to do instead, like work overtime to earn more money for my retirement – just in case they were wrong about the timing.  Or go car shopping for a sharp, little two-seater since I no longer need car seats in the back.  Or remodel the basement for a space large enough for my big-screen TV.  Or party with my co-workers to get our minds off the pressures of the grind.  Or subscribe to Dr. Phil blogs on Stress Reduction because I can’t handle all these construction workers traipsing through my house leaving drywall dust on everything!

In light of Jesus' warning about being "weighed down with ... the cares of this life," it seems ridiculous and even embarrassing that I would allow myself to ignore the coming destruction.  Such short-sightedness interferes with my ability to live "without fault in a warped and crooked generation," and to "shine among them like stars in the sky" (Philippians 2.15, NIV).  I can’t do that if I am, instead, holding firmly to the cares of this life.

Sama  Gilliland

Prayer: Grant, O Lord, that I may be able to watch myself so that I am not weighed down with the cares of this life.  Help me to be ready for the end.  In Jesus' name I pray.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 144.1-8

1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;

2 he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

3 O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?

4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

5 Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!

6 Flash forth the lightning and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them!

7 Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the many waters, from the hand of foreigners,

8 whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.