What will it take for lost people who are rich in material goods to see the need for a Savior?  What will it take for people who depend only on themselves for survival and the consumption of the goods of life allow Jesus to be Lord of their lives? What will it take for people who worry consistently about having more and getting more turn to a God Person who has it all and generously provides all we need? 

What will it take for souls to break free from this seemingly impossible hold of the enemy, let go, and grab the hand of Jesus? What will it take to seriously and completely trust in the one who created us? Will it take losing all their possessions?  Will it take losing all relationships that led us to this bondage?  What will clear the path to freedom?

Will it take Someone with power to release us from the chains of imprisonment the enemy has placed upon us? Will it take this Someone standing in our place and take the punishment for our sins?  Will it take Someone who loves us so much He would go to hell and back again for us?

What if this Someone died and then came back to life, scars and all, and proving to the world that he did indeed defeat death?  Would we listen, then?

Luke 16, The Message

The Rich Man and Lazarus

^19-21 “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.

^22-24 “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. called out, ‘Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his He finger in water to cool my tongue. I’m in agony in this fire.’

^25-26 “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.’

^27-28 “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.’

²⁹ “Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.’

³⁰ “‘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.’

³¹ “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.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

In the last verse of this passage Abraham explained that only one thing could prevent the five men from eventually joining their brother: They needed to hear the Word of God and respond to it by faith. Moses and the prophets tell sinners how to repent and be saved, and the Jews heard them read every Sabbath in the synagogue. Though miracles can attest to the authority of the preacher, they cannot produce either conviction or conversion in the hearts of the lost.

Believe and be saved.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16  Of all the messages Jesus’ story of Lazarus and the Rich Man conveys, don’t miss this one: God takes you however he finds you—rich or poor. No need to clean up or climb up. Just look up. God’s “whoever” policy has a “however” benefit.

Lord,

Cleanse my heart, remove all that is not you.  Renew my mind and transform my thinking to line up with your Kingdom thinking.  Refresh my soul with your new mercies.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within me that changes who I once was to who you created me to be.  Thank you for always being with us.  Thank you for saving us!

In Jesus Name, Amen