Luke 21:34

34 "But be on your guard. Don't let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap,

Luke 21:34 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 21:34

And take heed to yourselves
To your souls and bodies, to your lives and conversations; be upon your watch and guard: lest your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness;
with excessive eating and drinking; for these, as they oppress and burden the stomach, and disorder the body, so they stupefy the senses, and make the mind dull and heavy, and unfit for spiritual and religious exercises; such as reading, meditation, and prayer: and cares of this life;
concealing food and clothing, what you shall eat or drink, or wherewith ye shall be clothed; all such anxious and worldly cares, being that to the soul, as intemperance is to the body; for there is such a thing as being inebriated with the world, as well as with wine: and so that day come upon you unawares;
the day of Jerusalem's destruction; and this suggests, that such would be the carnality and security of some persons, and so they would be surprised with ruin at once; see ( Luke 17:26-30 ) .

Luke 21:34 In-Context

32 Don't brush this off: I'm not just saying this for some future generation, but for this one, too - these things will happen.
33 Sky and earth will wear out; my words won't wear out.
34 "But be on your guard. Don't let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap,
35 for it's going to come on everyone, everywhere, at once.
36 So, whatever you do, don't go to sleep at the switch. Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that's coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.