All cares of the world are dangerous to the heart. The problem with the cares of the world is that they concern things that may be considered legitimate
All cares of the world are dangerous to the heart. The problem with the cares of the world is that they concern things that may be considered legitimate. Let us consider some cares of the world.
Take marriage, for example. The Bible says:
“ I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:32-35).
There is no sin in marriage, but to maintain undivided devotion to the Lord in the married state is not within reach of most believers. How many are not anxious when their partners are sick? How many are not anxious when their children are sick or doing poorly in school? How many missionaries have had to withdraw from the field because of the education of their children? How many know the depth of consecration to the Lord that C. T. Studd and his wife knew to gladly accept separation from each other for thirteen years so that he might bring Christ to the heart of Africa? If marriage is not going to be a snare, a weight and a care, there has to be a standard of consecration to the Lord as few believers know anything about. The loneliness that often forces many to seek companions reflects something of their dissatisfaction with the One who is able to be husband, wife, children and all to the consecrated heart. If marriage is not to be a care that chokes the seed and prevents it from being fruitful, it will have to be entered into for the sake of the Lord and the gospel, and not just because a man who cannot hold himself under control is burning. It will have to be entered into, not just for the reason of conforming to a lost world at the brink of God’s judgement. It will not be entered into just because parents or employers demand it. It will be entered into because it is absolutely necessary for the two concerned to fulfil the call of God on their lives.
Another care of life is education. There is nothing wrong with education, but what are people being educated for? Is it for any other reasons than to gain diplomas and be famous? To gain important jobs and earn a lot of money? To outclass others? For all the manifestations of self ? The motives of many are wrong and Oh, the number of people who fall down prostrate before the god called education! How frustrated they are when after bowing to him and having the necessary diplomas they do not find the type of jobs they wanted or have the honour and glory that they expected! Yet because they have bowed before this god they cannot bear fruit!
Everyone who is to bear fruit must increasingly get rid of the cares of the world from his heart. He must attach himself so firmly to the Lord that there will be no room for the cares of the world. It will help if he separates himself from them.
Finally, the cares of the world in a heart show that that heart is sick. Only radical treatment through utter consecration to the Lord can bring hope. Because many cares of the world can be justified by those who want to justify them, many are thereby trapped. This may be the most potent tool of the devil against the children of God!