“Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’     Luke 16:24 NKJV

Southeast Louisiana is hot. It seems as though most of the time it is very hot. I am blessed to have the opportunity most of the time to come inside and cool down after working in the hot sun doing yard work. However, since Hurricane Ida devastated our area that has not been an option. We are blessed enough to have a generator and a small window unit in my mom’s room, but the rest of the house is hot. Upstairs is unbearable. For the last few days, we have been under a heat advisory. Then there’s the humidity, oh, the humidity!

I look forward to having our power restored and being able to use my central air to cool the whole house down, even the upstairs. But, I can’t imagine spending eternity in this heat.

In our scripture passage, a poor beggar by the name of Lazarus has gone to spend eternity in heaven. A rich man has gone to hell. This rich man asks Abraham to allow Lazarus to dip his finger into water and cool his tongue. But Abraham reminds the rich man that in his life he received many good things, but Lazarus received evil. Now Lazarus is spending eternity in comfort and the rich man is spending eternity in the torments of hell. He tells the rich man that there is a great gulf between the two so that inhabitants cannot pass between the two.

Then the rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to his family members to warn them about hell. But Abraham responds that they have had Moses and many prophets and did not listen.

This rich man had a good life here on earth. He received his rewards on earth. Verse 19 tells us that he wore the finest clothes and ate well. But Lazarus was full of sores and laid at the gate begging for the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. The dogs came and licked his sores. Lazarus’ life was not a pretty picture, not anything we would desire, right? Lazarus may have suffered on earth, but he obviously loved the Lord with all his heart. He wound up being brought up to heaven to spend eternity with God the Father.

The rich man lived it up down here on earth enjoying all that money could buy. Now this doesn’t mean that because he was wealthy he didn’t go to heaven. It means that because he did not put God first, because he didn’t love the Lord with all his heart and obey God’s commands, he went to hell. Because he loved his money and the finer things of life more than he loved the Lord and God’s people, he went to hell. It doesn’t say that he helped Lazarus while they were alive, but he was begging for Lazarus to help him once they died.

We are going on our tenth day without power, but who’s counting right? I try to focus on all the good that God has provided during this storm. But one thing I have learned from Hurricane Ida is that I don’t do well in heat. I had decided long before this hurricane blew through that I was going to spend eternity in heaven with my Lord and Savior.

If you haven’t made that decision, I want you to think about the hottest, most miserable time you have ever spent. I want you to think about how it made you feel. Then I want you to multiply that by 100 and add a godless existence where you are separated from Christ. This is for eternity. There is no hope. This is hell. Once you are there it is too late to ask for any type of relief from the flames that torment and the evil that is all around you.

My friend if you haven’t made a rock solid commitment to Christ, what are you waiting for? Hell is real. We were not meant to live in those conditions, we were meant to live in fellowship with Jesus Christ. We were meant to live in the eternal peace and joy that is in heaven where every tear is wiped away.

Put God first and obey His commands, be ready and willing to help those in need.

Love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. Surrender to Him before it’s too late.

Have a great day!