Once Life Is Over

Once Life Is Over

(LK. 16:19-31)

Joke: The End Is Near

None of us know when the end is. We do not have privy to how much time we have left before we meet God......that is why how we live our life is so important. Prov. 27:1 Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth ! There are some valuable lessons to be learned from our account in scripture.....not just about heaven, and hell.....but about life ! Will you join me in looking at them ?

I. Once Life Is Over You Cannot Salvage Things.............Share Them Now !

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. (Luke 16:19-21)

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood

street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag’s side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That’s a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?” The young boy was apologetic. “Please, mister...please, I’m sorry but I didn’t know what else to do,”sss sssssssssdHe pleaded. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop...” With tears dripping down his face

and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.

“It’ my brother,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his

wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.” Now sobbing, the boy asked the

stunned executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his

wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat.

He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts.

A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.. “Thank you and may God bless you,” the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message “Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!” God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don’t have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It’s our choice to listen or not.

God was trying to get the attention of the Rich man. He threw a brick at him everyday. The brick’s name was Lazarus. Everyday Lazarus laid at the gate of the rich man hoping that the rich man would have compassion upon him.....and everyday the Rich man ignored the brick that God threw at him. He looked out his window.....and there was Lazarus. He walked out the gate, and right passed him.......ignoring him........and in doing so ignoring God. God was trying to get him to stop........to pay attention ! It was a opportunity to him to use the things that God had given to him....but he never slowed down enough to notice........all the things that he had obstructed his view. Is there a Lazarus laying outside our gate this morning ? Is God trying to hit was a brick ?

Story:

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old man. He was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.