Luke 21:34-36 A Warning
34 Don’t spend all of your time thinking about eating or drinking or worrying about life. If you do, the final day will suddenly catch you 35 like a trap. That day will surprise everyone on earth. 36 Watch out and keep praying that you can escape all that is going to happen and that the Son of Man will be pleased with you.
Jesus wants you to stay in peace; he left us Kingdom peace because he is Yahweh Shalom (John 14:27). We have peace and fulfillment with God, because of our relationship with Jesus—the Prince of Peace. In English, the word “peace” conjures up a passive picture, one showing an absence of civil disturbance or hostilities, or a personality free from internal and external strife. The biblical concept of peace is larger than that and rests heavily on the Hebrew root “slm,” which means “to be complete” or “to be sound.” The verb conveys “to be complete or whole” or “to live well.”
In our passage today, Jesus shares a warning with his disciples. He wants believers to guard their souls (mind/will/emotions) and hold onto Shalom so they will be ready for his Second Advent or Coming. He condemns the world’s response and interpretation to what it means “to live well:” to eat, drink, and worry (to think only of temporal or worldly peace and fulfillment). Then, he tells the disciples how to escape the horrors that precede the Day of the Lord and his return.
This Word guides me to understand a time is coming when true peace and fulfillment will evade unbelievers. No human being can fix the hearts of humanity, so true and lasting peace will never be manifest apart from the rule of the Lord. And, true and lasting fulfillment is not possible unless we are living for God’s pleasure and according to his commands of love. So, what do we need to remember? Watch and be prepared for those times that will most certainly come. Pray and ask God to bring his faith and power to you in order to help you live in an unsettled time as a citizen of his eternal kingdom: in his righteousness, in his peace, and in the joy of the Holy Spirit. Remember, this is God’s provision that will bring victory. Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Prayer: Lord, thank you for leaving with me the peace that passes all understanding. I will allow peace to be my umpire and guide my life. Help me to live this Word, Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.