The Rich Man's Downfall

In Luke chapter 16, the story of the rich man is told. The rich man was clothed in expensive, purple clothes and lived an extravagant life. 

One day, a beggar came upon the gate of the rich man's house, and he was sick with sores covering him. The sick man wanted only crumbs from the rich man's table, but he was not given any. Dogs then came to lick his sores.

The beggar died soon after, and was taken to Heaven by angels, to Abraham's side as the Bible says. The rich man also died, but he opened his eyes to the lake of fire, Hell. 

The rich man saw Abraham and Lazarus, and begged for Abraham to send Lazarus to give him a drop of water to drink, but Abraham did not because the rich man done evil upon the Earth.

The rich man saw that there was no escape to the torment, and begged that witnesses would be sent to his brothers, in hopes that they would not join him in Hell. 

There are three lessons that can be seen here: 

1) The Doom of a Proud Man: The rich man was a very proud and self-centered man that was living his life for himself. He thought very highly of himself, and was not willing to bow down to anyone, even God. In his mind, he was on top, and that's not how it's meant to be. To be a child of God, a person has to sacrifice a lot, and come before God with the knowledge that He is much more great and powerful than they are. Because the rich man would not look past his own desires and bow down before God, and repent, he was sent to an eternity in Hell.  

2) The Importance of Repentance: Unfortunately, the rich man figured out how important repentance was too late. As soon as the rich man opened his eyes in Hell, he regretted everything he had done in his life. He no longer had the security of his possessions and riches on Earth, instead, that is what got him in Hell. The man had been so obsessed with his riches that he denied God, and risked his eternity. He didn't want anyone else to end up in such torment, which is why he begged for his brothers to receive a chance at repentance. 

3) A Giving Heart: The rich man was so selfish that he was not even willing to give to a dying man. It takes a very hard heart to see a man dying, and not try to help him in the slightest. He had plenty to give him, and the dying man was only asking for crumbs, but the rich man closed his ears off to him. Even the dogs, who are metaphorically represented as being unbelievers in this situation, relieved the man's pain by licking his sores. 

The rich man lived a great life on Earth, but once that was gone, it had no substance anymore. Material possessions can have value to us, but we can't allow them to take over our minds. Riches has the ability to change the best person into someone similar to the rich man, for it is the root of all evil. 

No amount of money or material things is worth dying and going to Hell for. The rich man found this out too late. He put all of his "eggs in one basket," so to speak. The man depended so much on his riches, he didn't realize the most important thing, God. 

We shouldn't let anything come before God in our lives. Even as saved people, we can let worldly things get in the way of our relationship with God, which is wrong. Of course, we can't lose our salvation, but we can sure mess up before God. If we are to live a life of God, we must give up all the sin and material things that could prevent a better relationship with Him. A sinful life is not long enough or precious enough to risk our relationship with God and our eternity for.