I was thinking last night about the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16.
When in hell he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, the words and actions of the rich man brought two things to mind.
First, it reminded me of Psalm 23 where the Lord preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. I have always read that verse and thought about this happening here on earth. But we forget that our true reward will come after death, in the next life.
Second, I was struck by the attitude of the rich man. I had never noticed this before - he still had a haughty spirit. His words show that he still considered Lazarus to be beneath him somehow, saying, 'send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue'. This right after asking Father Abraham for mercy.
How many times do we do the same thing? We say boy I shouldn't have acted like that, or I really shouldn't have said that. Please forgive me. Then we turn around and go back to those same habits.
Just some thoughts that rolled around in my head....
When in hell he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, the words and actions of the rich man brought two things to mind.
First, it reminded me of Psalm 23 where the Lord preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. I have always read that verse and thought about this happening here on earth. But we forget that our true reward will come after death, in the next life.
Second, I was struck by the attitude of the rich man. I had never noticed this before - he still had a haughty spirit. His words show that he still considered Lazarus to be beneath him somehow, saying, 'send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue'. This right after asking Father Abraham for mercy.
How many times do we do the same thing? We say boy I shouldn't have acted like that, or I really shouldn't have said that. Please forgive me. Then we turn around and go back to those same habits.
Just some thoughts that rolled around in my head....
