Luke 16:25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst the good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
And, unfortunately, our second-wind day, Wednesday, has opened cloudy and cool, with the computer telling me about high winds expected later. But none of that really matters because we have Jesus, the master of the wind and storm as our Lord and Saviour! And all God’s people declared (yesss!!!) a loud and proud: ‘Glory Hallelujah! Thank the Lord for Jesus! The One who gladly sacrificed His sinless life so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him!’
What a great and wonderful God we serve my fellow believers! Which other supposed god has ever made such a sacrifice for His followers eh? Not a single one! On the contrary, they always require sacrifices from their believers, while treating them with utter contempt and disregard. But the ONLY LIVING God, the great God Jehovah, Yahweh, Elohim, I AM, however you want to term Him, is the ONLY ONE, who puts Himself out for His followers!
Give Him much thanks and praise for His faithfulness, grace and LOVING-kindness to the underserving children of men, my brethren. For without His awesome compassion and heartfelt LOVE for His greatest but most disobedient, unruly and unfaithful creation, we’d be headed straight for hellfire and damnation, eternal separation from Him, which I keep reminding us, is the worst situation that a human soul can ever experience.
And it’s not so much the hellfire and damnation nuh, but the lack of communion with our heavenly Father that makes that fate so disastrous. Not experiencing His amazing company and all the good things He has in store for us is more heartrending than facing destruction with Satan. You know how down here on earth, sometimes it’s what we miss that hurts us more than what we suffer. Well the same thing will happen if we don’t receive Christ as Lord and Saviour, have our name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and head straight for the Lord’s waiting arms when we give up the breath of this earthly life.
That brings to mind Jesus’ parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. The story goes: ‘There was a rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day (lived in luxury). And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs form the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst the good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.’ (Luke 16:19-26)
Right there we have it friends; the impossibility of changing places, be it heaven or hell after we die! That means we need to be sure of where we truly desire to spend eternity and live the necessary way down here. And this commentary explains the first part of the parable. ‘In the parable, poor Lazarus was now receiving the good that he sought during this life. The formerly poor man was being helped by God (the meaning of his name, “Whom God helps”). The formerly rich man sought temporary good, which he enjoyed for a time but now failed him and left him in agony.’
On earth, Lazarus only received the crumbs from the rich man’s table, an unfair and inadequate situation, but in death the whole scenario is turned around. And that’s how it often is my people; those who suffer down here through no fault of their own will possibly receive the goodness of heaven, while those who enjoy the good life down here will suffer torment in the afterlife. But please remember, that’s not cast in stone, that’s just how it can be, for those who enjoy earthly blessings and are rich toward God and man, will most certainly enjoy heavenly rewards, while even those who don’t enjoy this earth’s pleasures and blaspheme God will end up in hellfire with Satan.
The basic lesson of the parable though is that worldly wealth, or earthly riches are of no use in the hereafter, so we should not let it be our earthly quest, but as Jesus directed, let’s seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all that we need will be added to us. (Matt. 6:33)
Like Bruh David says in Psalm 23; ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.’ (Ps. 23:1-6)
And that’s how it is my people, when we seek the Lord and His kingdom of righteousness. Life won’t necessarily be easy, but it will certainly be interesting and rewarding. Now we desperately need to believe that, if we hope to see good days on the earth. For as Bruh David further confirms in Psalm 37: ‘I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed (descendants) begging bread.’ (Ps. 37:25)
That’s further confirmation of how the goodness of God works in the true believer’s life. And yes, I remember that there’s another part to the parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus, but we’ll deal with that tomorrow, obviously if God spares life. (smile) Now let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our wonderful and very enviable position in Christ Jesus.
As one voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Now, let’s pray and do our best to persevere right down to the very end with Jesus, because if we do, then that future will be even more glorious than we can eve ask or imagine! Much LOVE!
..the riches of this world…do not automatically transfer to the riches of heaven…
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