Don't Be Enslaved By Your Tools

There is a story of the rich man and Lazarus that Jesus gave in Luke 16:19-31. To summarise, the rich man loved wearing radiant clothes and partying every day. But there was also a beggar named Lazarus who stayed at the rich man’s gate and desired to be fed the crumbs or leftovers of what was eaten at the rich man’s place. Lazarus had sores that dogs came and licked, which showed how beggarly he was.

It then happened that Lazarus died and angels carried him to Abraham’s bosom. Not long after, the rich man also dies and is buried, but ends up being tormented in Hades.

One would wonder why the rich man ended up tormented in Hades. Several reasons would point to this; Lazarus was always at his gate, but he never invited Lazarus to any of his parties. Even if he felt Lazarus wasn’t party material, he could have at least sent food to him, which he didn’t do at all. He completely ignored Lazarus and lived as though the world revolved around him.

Another reason shows that his hands were not clean and he didn’t know God because he found himself in Hades immediately. It was there we found out that he knew who Lazarus was all this while.

The Bible says in Proverbs 19:17, “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given.” Also, Jesus made us understand that the least we do in taking care of people in need, we do to Him, (ref.: Matthew 25:31-46). It showed that the rich man was very selfish and proud and didn’t consider the poor.

The essence of this is not to judge the rich man but to point out what Abraham said to the rich man after he begged that he should send Lazarus to his brothers to not come to the place of torment; in other words, they should change the way they are living by being godly. Abraham said in Luke 16:29, “Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’” Even when he pleaded further they won’t repent unless they see someone from the dead as Lazarus. Abraham answered him Luke 16:31, “But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded through on rise from the dead.’”

This goes to show that even though God has sent us as His Ambassadors here on earth, we should ask the Lord God for discernment of spirit to know when He is leading us. This is very important because Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees about the dangers of the love of money. After all, the rich man loved money so much that he never knew when God was speaking through his prophets. And this was what Abraham also said to him, that if they can’t listen to Moses and the prophets, then they won’t listen to anyone even if that person came from the dead.

True, money is used as a means of exchange here on earth, but to love money is not to love God because if you love God, He shows you how to use the money for His kingdom, and you see yourself as His steward, which is completely different from loving money.

Let’s be careful, and we should always be led by the Holy Spirit because mammon is very corny. After all, it uses money to enslave people. May our focus be on the Lord always IN JESUS’ NAME, AMEN.

 

 

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t? Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations—you’re born again, and you are now brand new!

                                          

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GOD BLESS YOU.

 

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Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are obtained from the New King James Version (NKJV)