I Believe...But Not in Hell

The story in Luke 16:19-31 depicts a rich man in hell and a poor man in heaven.  Not that rich people to go hell and poor people to heaven.  The story speaks of the great chasm that exists between the two.

A couple of pages further we find Jesus talking about how we enter heaven.  It is another rich man/poor man teaching in Luke 18:9-14 and a peek into heart attitude.

The rich man sees himself as deserving while the poor man sees himself as broken.

The rich man is proud of his record the poor man is ashamed of his record.

The rich man comes to God as a peer, the poor man comes with humility.

Jesus caps off this teaching on "the how" of heaven by saying that we enter like the poor man, and in this case a child.  Children need help.  They can't do many things on their own.  The stance of "the how" is to stand before God as a child.

I find it a challenge to see myself, 6 feet 2 inches.  Capable.  Successful to some degree or another - to see myself as a child.  Often I find myself like the rich guy almost powering up with God as though we are peers.  Lord have mercy!

Comments

Christina Sequeira wrote on January 05, 2012 at 11:36 AM:

I liked the ending, Bud. That's a very interesting point!! I am with you there. How easy is it for that to happen to all of us!!

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