Luke 21:34
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.
You are passionate about whatever you give your heart to, which means you will only be passionate for God if you give your heart to God. When I talk about giving your heart to God, I am not talking about salvation. I am talking about that which you invest your life in because whatever you invest your life in is what your heart is invested in, and out of your heart come the issues of your life.
Jesus warns the believer to take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged. Several keys to this one statement that you must keep in mind. First, any time means you can quickly lose the passion. Every minute of your life you must be careful that you don't let something in that would take that passion away. Second, to take heed means you must guard against whatever will take that passion away. Set guards in your life that keep away that which would pull you away from what God would want you to be. Third, guard against allowing those things that take your passion away from writing on your heart. The word overcharged means to write over. God gives three things that, if written on your heart, will take your passion for God away.
First, surfeiting will take your passion away. Surfeiting is an excess amount of something. Materialism will take your passion for God away. It is better to live a simple life with few things and have a passion for God than to have many things that take your passion for God away. The more things of this world that you add to your life, the greater the chance you have of losing your passion for God. Keep living a simple life. Whatever you add the most of to your life is what you will be passionate about. If you add the things of God to your life, you will be passionate about God. However, if you add things of the world to your life, you will become passionate about the world. You keep your passion for God by adding godly things to your life. Let the godly things you add write over your heart, and your heart will stay passionate for God.
Second, drunkenness will take your passion away. God is talking about anything that controls you other than God. Anything that controls you other than the Holy Spirit is a vice that will destroy your life. God used drunkenness as the illustration because all people know what alcohol will do to a person’s life. However, anything that can control you other than the Holy Spirit will do the same damage as alcohol will do to you. It may be hobbies, sports, or making money, to name a few, but when the things of the world control you, they will pull your passion away from God.
Third, the cares of this world will take your passion away. It is so easy to let the things of this world take over our hearts because we are inundated daily with the affairs of life. Many people have lost their passion for God because of position on the job, politics, or world happenings. I have learned that the less I delve into politics and world happenings, the more I can delve into the things of God. Yes, we should be responsible citizens in our nation, but I am a citizen of another world, a place called Heaven. I want to give my time to the place where I am a citizen, and anything that would pull that passion away is something I want no part of. Guard against the cares of this world becoming your focus, but keep your focus on winning souls, and you will keep a heart that is passionate for God.
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