“There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man’s table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.
“Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I’m in agony in this fire.’
“But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It’s not like that here. Here he’s consoled and you’re tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.’
“The rich man said, ‘Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won’t end up here in this place of torment.’
“Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.’
“‘I know, Father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but they’re not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.’
“Abraham replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they’re not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:19-31
I’ve often pondered this parable told by Jesus. It’s set in the book of Luke amongst a list of parables between ‘good’ versus crooked management, and the mustard seed of faith story. Jesus had a way of explaining real spiritual truths and principles with stories that explained how His kingdom works. This one of the rich man and Lazarus though seems different as it deals with our ‘next’ existence after our physical death.
There are several truths we must face with this parable. We will exist (at least in some form) after our physical death. Not everyone will go to the same place. One place is torment, and one place is ‘rest’. I then ponder the magnitude of eternity. Once when I had to give a sermon to a church I was not a part of .. I asked Jesus to give me a parable and examples to share with the people. Jesus did give me several parables and examples that I still share today, they were that good. One example used a long piece of rope with a small piece of tape at the very end. The tape represented the entire length of our earthly life, the rest of the rope represented the very beginning of eternity. The piece of tape almost seemed insignificant but it was very important as is our lives right now here on earth. So many decisions we make now in this life will affect the rest of that never ending rope. Years later on a video I saw Francis Chan use the exact same example. Jesus is still sharing His examples and parables with others. Haha.
What we do now matters. The decisions we make now will have much bigger consequences and effects than we currently know. Wise individuals have learned to ‘listen’ to the Spirit of God for which way to go and what decisions to make, either yes or no, forward or back, right or left, or many other choices. We must learn to turn to Him when faced with our ‘path’. We must learn to consult with the Holy Spirit when faced with decisions, which will require us to learn how to hear His Voice within us with much greater accuracy. What are you doing right now to get ‘better’ at that skill of listening to and hearing Him?