"But Abraham said to him, "Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted and Lazarus had nothing."
Luke 16:25
Luke 16:25
The "elephant in the room" is the word hate in Luke 14:25. This verse has always disturbed me. How could Jesus ask people to hate the own family?
Jesus was teaching about what the cost of being a disciple, a learner of his teaching would be. He was telling those listening and us today to choose a relationship with Jesus before any other relationship on earth. No relationship, no relationship should come before your relationship with Jesus Christ. I can testify to the truth of Jesus' words. I am not always good at it but when the vertical relationship is right all the horizontal relationships seem to work better.
Now that the elephant is out of the way, I must write about what grabbed my attention in today's reading: the rich man's in the place of the dead. The words Abraham said to him (our key verse) pierced my heart but not as much as the rich man's pleading on behalf of those family members who were not saved. He was desperate to give them a warning of what was to come if they did not live their lives for Christ. I could almost hear his desperate pleas as I read.
I had to ask myself: How many people will be in the place of dead because I did not take the time to share the good news of Jesus through word and deed? This calls for some BIG team repentance of my heart and a change of direction in my thinking. How about you?
3 Comments:
YES. That is actually something that has been weighing on my heart lately. I have an unsaved family member, that I want to make sure is right, but don't know that well, or have a relationship with. He has some saved friends that he is close to, and I pray they will speak to him.
Blessings everyone - Praying for all of us.
Lynn
Good morning Wendy,
I too was struck by that passage, but in a different way.
Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man's table, which suggests that the rich man was not willing to give, not willing to share. Here was a rich man who lived his life without compassion, EVEN for the poor man on his very doorstep. Generosity towards the poor was taught in the OT by the prophets & Moses, yet it was only once he was in Hades being tormented that the message registered to him. Even then, he did not express regret at treating Lazarus poorly, but he plead that his brother's receive a warning so that they would live more righteous lives than he did.
I agree wholeheartedly, we as Christians need to "share the good news through word and deed,"so that others will not end up in the place of the dead as the rich man, so that others will see the light of Jesus.
My question to myself though, was: how often do we not see the poor man on our very doorstep because we are caught up in our own world, our own busy lives? How often are we guilty of not extending a helping hand to others even though we know that we should because we have other priorities?
I was also thinking about how the scripture said that dogs ere licking Lazarus' wounds. Did the rich man not help him because he viewed him to be "unclean?" How often do we consider whether someone is worthy of assistance, before we are willing to help. "Is the man begging on the city street really in need of money, or is he just gonna use the money to buy alcohol or drugs?" "Is that person on public assistance really deserving because they're down on their luck, or are they one of those lazy people who just don't wanna get a job and work hard like the rest of us?" Shame on me. Why can't i simply see a need and be glad to fill it as the Lord has made me able?
"Things that make you go Hmmm." Hope that wasn't too heavy/too much of a downer first thing in the morning, but somehow this parable really made me think that sometimes i need to be more accountable to those in need, as we are accountable to the Lord himself.
Hope everyone has a good day,
Blessings!
Allyson
Good Morning, All! Enjoying the comments already! I, too have been very burdened re: unsaved family members. I pray daily for God's guidance in this area and for ways that I can nurture my relationships with them, ways that I can serve them in love. Their hearts are very hard re: God; it will take Him doing a miracle with so many of them, but...ALL things are possible. I anticipate the joy I will have in seeing God's Glory as each one of them get saved!
This morning I realized once again how important it is to not just “know,” but “do & live,” the Word of God. Luke 17:1-10, shows us that to live like Christ today we need to: forgive, have faith, and surrender to His Will.
In 17:8, the apostles ask the Lord, “show us how to increase our faith,” and how does he answer this question? 17:10, “obey me.” It does not get any clearer than that! This happens to be going right along with my, “Knowing God,” study. THE LORD, “Adonai,” is LORD. He is our MASTER. We need to commit to do His will. Kay Arthur brought out about Moses and when he said: “LORD... I have never been eloquent…”God was angry because Moses was saying, “LORD…but not trusting and submitting to Him as Adonai. In order for us to increase our faith, we must be willing to listen to His whispers and OBEY. Saying, “LORD, LORD…” isn’t going to get us anywhere…only, serious obedience. DOING what our Father wills for us to do. When we submit, He is there to get us through anything that He has asked us to do. As our Adonai, (God) has a right to expect complete obedience from us.
Love, hugs, & prayers coming your way! Lori - Mesa
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