Wednesday Reading: Luke 16:19-26
Key Verse: Luke 16:22
22 And it happened that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich one also died and was buried.
Devotion:
There is a huge difference in death between believers in Christ and those who do not trust in Him. Those who are willing to listen to the truth and reject it will eventually find out the hard way that they too will be rejected by Christ. For those who are willing to accept Christ back into their lives before they die, they have a sure place in heaven with Him. When Christ told this parable of the rich man and the poor man He wanted everyone around to hear just how important it is to make the right decision before it is too late.
We may scorn at the things that some people say to us because we don’t want to have to follow their rules or their beliefs, but when they are telling us of the truth then we do have to listen and we do have to learn. When we are at school we are (hopefully) taught between right and wrong and we discern between the two. As we go out into life by ourselves those sort of decisions become even more important as they become central to our lives. We cannot go on pushing aside anything we do not like because it may well be the truth that we push aside.
God has given us His Word, the truth, so that we can know it and so that we can find out how to apply it to our lives. He has given us passages like this to remind us of just how important that decision is and that it has to be taken before we die. It is no use saying “I’ll do it tomorrow” if you are going to die tonight! We certainly would not like to find ourselves in the position that this rich man found himself in – knowing the truth and yet not being able to do anything about it, not even for his friends and family. God wants us to make up our minds about the truth and He wants each of us to know the truth – what we do with it has far reaching implications that we don’t often think about!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always put things off?
Do you take your life for granted?
