I was reading a story this morning where Jesus told about a rich man and a poor man called Lazarus in Luke 16:19–31. As I thought about it I thought of how it seems that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer in many cases. Then I started reading the story of the shrewd manager in that same chapter and started thinking about why the rich are rich.
For many years the Lord has blessed my family and me in different ways. We were not rich by any means but the Lord blessed us many times with food and money and much of it was done in secret so we didn’t know who gave it to us. Of course I gave the Lord the credit because I knew He was behind it all, encouraging people to do what they did. As time went on I wondered why the Lord blessed us so much and so often and started thinking that we were more special to the Lord than other people were.
Then as the Lord spoke through different resources to me I started to realize that the reason the Lord blesses us is so that we can and will bless others. I believe that believers and non-believers alike are blessed with riches or whatever so that they will use the resources that the Lord provides to bless not only them but to bless others also. I believe when we stop blessing others our blessings will dry up and cease.
This reminds me of sowing and reaping. The Bible says that we will reap what we sow and this verse covers many different areas of our lives. One of these is if we bless others we will be blessed. Think about this, the shrewd manager in Luke 16:1–18 was dishonest in his dealings and I am not advocating that we should be dishonest, no, Christians should never be dishonest in their dealings with others. This story teaches believers to bless others and we will be blessed with friends. It says in Luke 16:9, “I tell you, use your worldly treasures to benefit others and make friends, in this way your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven.” Just think if every millionaire, billionaire and every one that could, were to really give to the poor there probably would be very little poverty in this world.
Let’s go back to the story of the rich man and Lazarus. There is a big problem in the world today and it is called greed. The more you have the more you want. This shows a lack of faith and a lack of contentment and compassion. The easiest way to tell about a person and what the most important thing they have is to see what they do with their finances. Here is an example of a rich man and a poor sick man begging for scraps at his gate. Here was truly a lack of compassion. Think about this, this rich man reaped what he sowed. He showed no compassion and in the end he received no compassion. The rich man ended up tormented while Lazarus ended up blessed.
What a different story this would have been if the rich man would have shown more generosity and compassion before he died. Toward the end of the story he finally showed some compassion toward his five brothers because he didn’t want them to end up where he was, but it was too late. He asked Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers about the place he was in. Then Abraham replied in verse 29, “Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read their writings anytime they want.” To this the rich man replied in verse 30, “No father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will turn from their sins.” Abraham responded once again, “If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.” NLT Bible. This shows that the rich man had no excuse either and that was why he ended up where he was.
Many times I don’t have any idea who is reading these tidbits so I want to ask these questions. What will it take for you to avoid this place of torment called Hell? What will it take for you to believe? The Bible says in Romans 1:20, “From the time the world was created people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and His divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.”
Now the choice is up to you I hope you make the right one. God bless and have a great day! And don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!
No comments:
Post a Comment