Lazarus and the rich man

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰ At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹ and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²² “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ 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.’

²⁵ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

²⁷ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family,²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

The parable of the rich fool is found in the book of Luke 12:13-21.  Jesus warned His listeners that life is not just about gathering wealth; life is so much more than abundance of possessions. Being wealthy is not just the ultimate but using the wealth to bless others and further the work of God. The man in the parable, referred to as the rich fool is interested in increasing and accumulating more wealth. The parable teaches that we shouldn’t accumulate wealth on earth and leave to accumulate wealth in heaven. We gather treasure in heave when we help the poor, promote the gospel and work of God. We shouldn’t put all our attention and energy in earthly possession, by the way they are all vanity.

Earthly wealth will be left behind when we die, but heavenly wealth stays forever. Jesus doesn’t want us to waste our time on material things and then end up forgetting the good heavenly things. Not that being wealthy is bad, but we shouldn’t worship our wealth.