Don’t Have Regrets Luke 16:19-31
Many jokes link regret to the choice of a mate. (According to one, a woman inserts an ad in the classifieds: "Husband wanted." Next day, she receives a hundred letters. They all say the same thing: "You can have mine.")
A nurse specializing in care of the terminally ill has recorded the most common regrets of the dying. Consider some of the most death bed Regrets
The top five regrets discovered by the nurse Bronnie Ware include:
These are recorded in The Guardian 2012 February issue
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier. People admit that they feared change in their lives, so they pretended that they were content. In fact, they wish they had laughed more and allowed themselves to be sillier.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. People feel badly that they were so caught up in their own lives that they let important friendships slip away.
3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings. Many people suppress their feelings in order to keep peace with others.
2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard. This regret was expressed by every male patient. Every single one of them.
1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. This is the most common regret of all. "Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams," says Ware, "and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made."
Jesus tells us that "the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried" (v. 22). And there, in Hades, we begin to get a sense of the rich man's regrets.
The Rich Man regrets that He did not love others enough to help out
• Love is the Nature of God . 1 John 4:8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love
• Love is the greatest of Christian Values 1 Corithinas 13:13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
• Love is Essential to relationships with God and Man Matthew 22: 37Jesus replied: " `Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'B 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the
second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.'C 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
• The Rich Man regretted he did not love others because The poor man Lazarus was lying at his gate,
covered with sores and the rich man stepped over or around him each time he left his home. Every single day,
the rich man missed a chance to help Lazarus by simply giving him the leftovers from his table.
The Rich man regrets that he did not listen to Moses and the prophets.
• I now realize that Gods Word could have made me Happy as recorded by Luke said, , "Blessed rather are those
who hear the word of God and obey it." I wished I would have listened to Luke
• I now understand Gods Word is living and Active as written by Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active.
Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and
attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
• I now Grasp that Gods Word could have guided me in life and preserved my soul Psalm 119:105Your word is
a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
• I know your Word comforts, it is the delight of the redeemed, desired more than gold, edifies, is effective,
endures forever, full of hope, full of joy, life giving, and could have set me free.
3. The Rich Man regrets that he had no relationship with God
• If I had a relationship With God perhaps I would have been mindful of Poor Lazarus
• If I had a relationship with God I would not be in this terrible place The rich man died opened his eye in
23In hell,C where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side being comforted , but
found himself in agony in this fire.'
• If I had a relationship with God my brothers would not come to this awful place I beg you, father, send
Lazarus to my father's house, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
Idea from Homiletics online.com
