Thursday, March 5, 2026
Lazarus and The Rich Man
Lent is upon us once again. I haven’t given anything up for years, of course I try, but ultimately fail whatever it is I choose. Until now. I’ve recently acquired more knowledge on this season of Lent and have learned that you can also take up something. So, I went to Google, hoping it would have some ideas for me. It didn’t. Some of the results that came up were to spend 10-15 minutes of your day in complete silence, pray an ancient prayer every day, and take up healthier eating habits, essentially not eating treats (I’m pretty sure everyone’s done that one). So, my research had come to an end. I almost did nothing (again) for Lent, that is, until I went through my jewellery jar. Inside, I found one of my crosses. I hadn’t worn it for a while, but then I realized, I hadn’t worn any of my crosses recently, and I knew what I was going to do for Lent. Get better at remembering God. To do that I would wear my cross every day, as a reminder to do all for him. Focus on him, remember the words he has given me. Read those words and more.
Now, you’re probably wondering how this ties into my readings, and I promise, I’m getting there.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Psalm 1:5-6
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
who can understand it?
10 “I, the Lord, search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
Jeremiah 17:7-10
The time came when the beggar died and angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, 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.’
But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good thing, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.’
Luke 16:22-26
These passages connect by telling us that those who truly love God and do his commands will be blessed by him when they die. And the reason I say that is because of Lazarus. If you read the whole passage given it says that he was covered in boils and sore, in other words, he had leprosy. Now, we all just think, “Oh, leprosy, the disease that eats your skin and rots it.” But that’s not actually what leprosy does. Leprosy leads to discolouration of patches of skin, and eventually makes you lose all sensation of touch, and that’s why the skin would rot. They would injure themselves without realizing it, thus not treating the wound and having it get infected. So, this man was having a really bad life. He was cast out, called, “unclean”, in extreme cases you lose your nose, so he probably didn’t have one of those either, and people believed in the Bible that leprosy was divine punishment for a sin, so they thought he had done something awful to deserve it. And yet, after all of that, he still served the Lord. He still put God first and was blessed in the end.
What I’m going to leave you with is the moral of the story of Lazarus. We shouldn’t think, “Oh, so if I’m an amazing Christian and am the best I will get really blessed in heaven.” No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m telling you that you will have bad times in your life, I guarantee it. But, if you focus on God at all times, he will get you through. So, you shouldn’t compare yourself to others as “a better Christian”, that’s not what the Bible tells us to do. Instead, be able to praise God and study his word in any situation you maybe going through. He is the light at the end of the tunnel.
- Sophie
Praise You Anywhere Brandon Lake
Comments
Post a Comment