Here’s Today’s Devotional from The Vine…
It happened that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. – Luke 16:22
Nothing is said about his funeral — of course it was only a poor mans burial. Earth had no honor for the beggar, no fancy coffin or expensive flowers… but the angels came and were his bearers to escort him to glory. Notice also that nothing is said about what became of his body, but that doesn’t really matter, for the man himself was no longer in that old, worn-out, battered body. He was soon far away in a realm of God‘s glory. While the body was dropped, the beggar, the real man, was carried away to heaven; and we see him there, a beggar no longer, enjoying the presence of God.
There is still another thought here. We are afraid of death. It seems the end of existence. But really to the Christian it is only an incident in his life. It is just a moment’s passage through an experience we never can understand. One minute this poor beggar lies at the gate, despised, suffering, hungry; the next, a strange sensation passes over him, and all is confusion; then he awakes flying through the air with angel-escort, and in a little time is inside the gate of heaven where he lives on. There is no break in his life.
Death came also to the rich man. His riches could not save him from that. No doubt he had a fancy funeral. There would be a long procession, many mourners, great waste of decorations and every show of honor. But who would not rather have the beggar’s escort after death than the finest funeral earth ever gave to a mortal? There have been funerals of rich men at which there was genuine sorrow, where those who had been blessed by their kindness on earth came and wept by their coffins. But in this case there were no sincere mourners, for the man had allowed the needy to lie hungry at his gates. He had lived for himself only and no one really missed him when he was gone.
Apply This To Your Life Today… How would you like to be remembered after you die? Is there anything you can learn from this account of the poor man and the rich man?
Good Devotionals 