TODAY’S VERSE: LUKE 16:23-24 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.
REVELATION:
What is your worse feeling? Regret is one of my worse feeling. As I was reading the story that Jesus told about a rich man who went to hell and a poor man, who went to Heaven, I noticed something that brought a new perspective about hell.
When I think of hell, I always think of fire, heat, flames and people screaming uncontrollable. If you look at the rich man who was in hell, he was not screaming even though he was in agony of fire. He was able to communicate clearly what he was experiencing. So then what was the torment that he was experiencing?
The worse torment of all in hell is being able to see Heaven from a distance and not being able to go there. It reminded me of Alcatraz Prison. Few years back, I visited San Francisco and I had an opportunity to see this famous Prison from a distance. I was standing at the famous Golden Bridge. Alcatraz was the prison where they put the worst of the worst prisoners.
From 1933-1963, it served as the site of a nearly inescapable federal penitentiary. The cold waters of the ocean surrounded the island in which the prison was on and it is shark-infested. So escaping is not an option. From Alcatraz, you can see the exciting life in the big city of San Francisco. And that is all you can do, is to look at what could have been and what will never be.
While Alcatraz was certainly a gloomy place with severe discipline, there is a place that is worse than Alcatraz. That place is Hell. The texts from today's verse give us a glimpse of what hell is like. Hell it will be a place of physical torment, as the verse reveal the rich man was in agony and torment, yet he was able to see ("he looked up and saw"), he was able to talk ("he called to him"), and he was able to feel ("cool my tongue"). And I am sure there are many other form of torment will be experienced there. And there will be a lot of regreting, because you will be able to see Heaven from a distance. You will constantly be reminded of what you have missed.
Dear Reader, I don't know about you but I am sure, I wouldn't want to end up in such place. See, because of our sins we all deserve to go to Hell. God is righteous and He can not skip or overlook a single sin. But God is love also, and His heart desires is to see you and me with Him live together eternally in Heaven. It is because of such love He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes Him shall not perish but have eternal life. So, unless you are reconciled to God through His Son, Jesus Christ, you will live the most miserable regrets for all of eternity. If you have never reconciled with God, I encourage you to do it today! All you have to do is confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved!
PRAYER:
My Heavenly Father thank You, thank You, thank You for Your tender mercy and love. You love me even though I don't deserve it. Thank You for providing a way for me to reconcile with You. Thank You for Your grace and thank You for Jesus!, it is through Him I give thanks and praise. Amen.
APPLICATION:
Simply believe in Jesus! This is between you and God. If you don't believe, truly ask why and seek the answers in the Bible. I am confidence God will meet you where you are. But do it today, because tomorrow is not promise.
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