What About Lazarus?

Luke 16:19-31

Message No. 0756 | Twitter @GodandUs | www.wisdom-speaks.ca

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Hello readers and apologies for writing late this week. I had fallen ill during and after a trip, and other things happened also, but praise to God that He is handling the situations. This week we will take a quick look at a popular story in the Bible, the rich man and Lazarus, and apply this to our world today with the title: What about Lazarus?

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In 1 Timothy 6:10, the Bible says:

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

If you type “the love of money” in your web browser, your AI-assisted browser is likely to give you an overview of the quote as ‘suggesting that an excessive focus on wealth can lead to various problems and harmful actions.’ Even this is enough, considering it’s coming from a non-Bible-believing source. Bringing it home to believers, this means that if we make money our core focus while everything else becomes secondary, then we are likely to find ourselves in big troubles.

In Luke chapter 16 verses 19-31, Jesus narrated the story of the rich man and Lazarus, centered on the wealthy not willing to assist the poor. The rich man was wealthy, had everything he needed, lived in a mansion and was fed with the best of meals daily. But there was a poor man named Lazarus, who all he wanted was the crumbs falling off the table of the rich man (costing the wealthy nothing), but the rich man wouldn’t give him. Lazarus was so poor that he could not even take care of his sores, as he could not afford the medicine necessary to aid his healing. Yet, the rich man did not see any need to help him out of his obviously sorry state.

As no one lives forever, in due course, the Bible says that Lazarus died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. But the rich man, upon all his wealth, also died, and was buried. Each man went to a different destination. The rich man was transported to hell, from where he saw the new status of Lazarus. Instantly, he knew that he had made an irrecoverable mistake, yet he begged for Abraham to allow Lazarus, the rag-clothed poor man full of sores that he could barely look at, let alone touch, to dip his finger in water and cool his tongue. How times change, and how fortunes can and do change.

No one will live forever in this world, so the possibility of holding unto what you have forever is zero. One day, everyone will leave behind what he or she has stored up, and it will be left to other people to decide how to spend the fortunes. How is it then, that some people store up so much that if they live here for thousands of years, they still won’t finish it, yet there are people all around them who can barely afford a meal, and this doesn’t move them.

You, whom God has blessed so much, when will you help that brother or that sister, who has been asking for your help? When will you allow the crumbs falling off your table to be collected by that neighbor who can barely survive? Do we not know that we are only custodians of what God has given to us, and that He expects us to have pity on our fellow brethren? You are comfortable, and can afford anything money can buy, but what about Lazarus! Does your heart ever prompt you to assist, or do you only pray for the needed and let them go? In James 2:14-17, the Bible says:

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

A wealthy man was so stingy that even in the hotel, he could not pay for laundry, so he washes his clothes with hand and spreads them to dry overnight. When anyone dies, the best he or she would get is a golden casket, jewelry on his hands and neck, and a golden wristwatch. And if the relations are not careful, some thief would go to the grave, exhume his casket and remove the golden items. In this message, God is asking each of us, I have given you so much, but what about Lazarus? Have you ever thought of assisting the poor with your wealth?

What to Do?

The wealth that God has given to us is not meant for us alone. When we meet Him on the last day, He may be asking, how many people did you assist with the much that I gave you. How many lives did you impact? Perhaps we need to begin to think and act on this while the opportunities abound?