Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
There are a variety of things that have the power to make us drowsy, insensitive to spiritual things. Carousing and drunkenness seem among the more self evident as they risk making us insensitive even to natural things when carried to extremes. When we seek pleasure at all costs in such ways we become insensitive, not only to the spiritual pleasures of life with God, but even the little joys of life. And the pleasure promised by carousing and drunkenness never fully delivers. It always leaves us empty, even if we don't acknowledge it directly and push it to the peripheries of our awareness. We then seem to need a little more and a little more even to achieve the same effect.
and the anxieties of daily life
However, even for those of us not losing ourselves in party culture there are still risks that might make our hearts drowsy. Surprisingly, the anxieties of daily life are one possible risk factor in this regard. We might think of anxiety as closer to alertness and awareness and drowsiness and sleep. But it appears that our anxieties can so come to dominate our field of view as to make us lose sight of all else. When this happens they can consume our strength to such a complete degree that we don't have any energy left for anything else, even God. No doubt this was the reason Jesus warned against anxiety.
As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful (see Matthew 13:22).
We see from the Parable of the Sower that one cause of anxiety is to be overly solicitous for the things of earth and the cares of this world, things that we can influence but are ultimately beyond our control. Jesus teaches that the solution to anxiety is not, as we may be tempted to believe, the accumulate of vast riches. Quite the opposite, since we see in the Parable of the Rich Fool that preoccupation with wealth caused the day of that rich man's death to catch him unaware (see Luke 12:15-21).
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ... and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ... Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself (see Matthew 6:31, 32, 34).
We are called to be vigilant at all times so that we never succumb to the various temptations that would cause us to place greater priority on something else besides God's kingdom. We tend to shift from one distraction to another rather than living for the Kingdom with a unified heart, never giving ourselves so fully to one temptation that we recognize it as a problem, but never truly embodying the vigilance enjoined on us by Christ. This is a result of human weakness, and so we must hear the solution commanded: "pray that you have the strength". On our own we can do nothing. But in Christ we can do all things (see Philippians 4:13).
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