Luke 16:22-24 - James McCleery

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

Choices! We may not make the choice of what level of comfort we are afforded in this life but what we do with with the life we have been given and lead reflects the inner heart and that in turn chooses life or death. The consequences of sin is death and eternal torment that cannot be ignored here on earth. Jesus teaches that if we life a life here without God we can expect the same separation of Him from us in the next. the rich man demonstrates this in the very life he led here of greed and separation from God. This same selfishness is demonstrated in the very demand that Lazarus attending to him in his torment while the rich man never demonstrates repentance for his sins. The stone cold reality that Jesus teaches is this: if we choose to ignore God in our daily lives and seek repentance for our sins by the same measure we will be shown mercy and grace in the next life.