Traped In The Cares Of Life

In Luke 21:34-36 it says “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

We live in a time when men run to and fro. Knowledge is increased, yet it is seemingly harder and harder to find the knowledge of God. And why is this? Why is it easier to learn how to be a doctor, or to study to be a banker, or to learn more about what we would like in life, than it is to learn and study to live in God and to hear His word? It is hard to live for God, when you have so much going on in your life. In other words, it is hard to live for God when you are living for yourself. “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged,” Does anyone else get overwhelmed by their struggles in life? I know I do. To have your heart overcharged is to be overwhelmed. “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”

Your walk with God is in danger when you allow your desires and cares for the things of this world to become your forethought. You will become stressed out, overwhelmed, and ineffective for God! And your very soul is in danger! Let me ask you, how easy is it to run after God while you are running after the cares of this world? You can’t do it can you?! God said you couldn’t. Matthew 6:24 says “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” So you will love either God or the world, not both. And let me tell you that if you are running after the things in this world you are going to miss God when He comes to visit you! Not only that, but if you continue then you are going to miss God when the day of the Lord comes…and it will “come upon you unawares.” Because your lost in the distractions of the devil. Having gone after the cares of this life, and leaving God behind.

Listen, we hear the word preached every Sunday. Why is it then that the very word we hear produces little or no fruit in our lives? Why is it that we can’t tell you what the word was that was spoken to us on Sunday when Monday comes? Luke 8:14 “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” We have our hearts set on our job on Monday or our trip to the beach rather than on seeking God and knowing Him. Be careful, your goals and cares that overwhelm (that you allow to be your main focus of your heart) will steal your life away from God! His word will produce no fruit in your life because it could not take root in you through all the clutter and cares you filled your heart with, instead of filling it with His word.

John 15:2 “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away…” If the thorns choke out the word of God from your life, then in the end, not only will there be no fruit in your life but you will have lost your very soul. All you are left with is the cares of this life, while they will fade in time anyway. You will have a life full of thorns and not God. Hebrews 6:8 “But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”

God’s word must take root in your heart and grow in you! Because if you care more about paying your bills, owning your home, doing a good job, or ANYTHING ELSE more than you care about God and His word then you will not be rooted and grounded in faith! God must be your first care, else as it is said in Jude 1:12 “…clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;”