Priority In Life Matters - Luke 15-16

 Luke 16:19-24 (ESV)

The Rich Man and Lazarus

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

The afterlife is a mystery to most of the world.   To many it is not something they prefer to think about.  They prefer to live large in this life and let the next be oblivious to their senses.   God has, however, put eternity into the heart of man:

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV)

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

In the above story, told by Jesus, we see the impact of living without a conscious knowledge of life after death.  Without explaining, Jesus tells as story of the rich man and Lazarus and simply implies life after death.  That is the first century mindset, however.   Even those who denied God would have believed in life after death.  Our modern day thought does not, however, carry that much gravity toward the topic.   The rude awakening of the rich man is the destination of all those who are lost in their sin.  They will, at some certain point, see the life they have for eternity.  While they are busy raising future soccer stars, drinking lattes and climbing corporate ladders, they will soon find that these things of this life pale in comparison to the things of the next life.   Most people don’t see that eternity awaits them because they have little time to consider it.  They are so earthly minded they fail to realize the heavenly weight that awaits.  Jesus talked often about the next life.  He wanted His disciples and those He was teaching to know about His eternal Kingdom.   The rich man had it all in this life.  Lazarus had nothing.   In the next life their station was reversed.   We can get caught up in this world, but it is the next is the one that matters.  And, it is the one that last the longest.