"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)As I was turning in the Bible to a another reading, this passage (along with previous notes) jumped out at me once again. It appears that Jesus was telling us to 'watch ourselves' ...instead of 'watching (judging) others'. He seemed to be teaching introspection and was encouraging us to 'be on guard' because of our heart's tendency to betray -- and we then make ourselves 'feel better' by focusing on the faults of other people. We even 'issue a verdict' against the other person's faults as if we know the very depths of their heart! The Amplified Bible says it clearly: we should guard our heart and watch out for "the giddiness and headache and nausea of self-indulgence ..."
I spend a lot of time and mental energy 'watching others'...and being disturbed when they do not conform to my wishes. I must ask for grace to guard my own heart and avoid the 'emotional hangovers' and anxieties that result from the wrong focus. Lord, let the meditations of my heart be pleasing to You.
Lane
2 comments:
"Establish my footsteps in Thy word and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me."
Ps. 119:133
How true that we are to "Watch Ourselves". It is so easy to gauge ourselves, measure ourselves against others.
Christ is the ultimate standard and "We all fall short of the glory of God."
I'm glad that He doesn't simply let us lay there where we have fallen, but encourages us to get up an follow him.
Thanks for the posting.
I needed it.
mb
I'll face God at the Judgement seat of Christ...I don't need to judge anyone else.
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