Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
By Lou Yeboah
I tell you; the message of the rich man should be a warning to all of us. He awoke to the fact of eternity too late. He lifted up his eyes too late. He was too busy in life to stop and look up. He was too absorbed with the Now to think of the Here-after. Could’ve, Would’ve Should’ve – But Didn’t – What Tragedy! This sad story should be a warning to each of us, not to take for granted the grace of God, as well as to realize that there are irreversible decisions in life.
If you are reading this message today and don’t know Christ as your personal Savior, do not wait till it’s too late. The weightiest application here is that one day it will be too late for repentance. As [Hebrews 9:27] says, “It is appointed for me to die once and after this comes judgment. The rich man in [Luke 16] discovered that too late. His destiny was now fixed and like in Esau’s case “there was no place for repentance.” May each of us learn from him, and from Esau, and not wait until it is too late to consider the cost of our decisions and actions.
Right now, there is still time to repent before God releases the last three trumpet judgments, referred to as “woes”. Don’t wait till it’s too late. Heed the warnings. Now is the time to set your life right. Now is the time to get your house in order. Now is the time to repent! Now is the time to put oil in your lamp. Do not be complacent. Don’t wait till it’s too late. Regrets are a killer. The rich man in his eternity of suffering is a man of regrets. He knew he was in hell, and he knew why. Don’t you do it for the Bible makes it very clear that there is a time coming when you won’t be able to be saved. These are the end times, the time of great tribulation, when God will pour out his wrath and judgment on an unbelieving world that will refuse him to the end. The Bible says God will give them up. They will curse God as they are being scorched with hailstones. They will try to hide from his wrath in vain, they will seek death, but death will flee from them. Don’t you do it. Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out [Acts 3:19].
For no one is excluded from Jesus’ demand to repent. He made this clear when a group of people came to him with news of two calamities. Innocent people had been killed by Pilate’s massacre and by the fall of the tower of Siloam [Luke 13:1-4]. Jesus took the occasion to warn even the bearers of the news: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” [Luke 13:5]. Jesus, the Son of God, is warning us of the judgment to come, and offering escape if we will repent. If you don’t repent, Jesus has one word, “Woe, unto you” [Matthew 11:21].
The Bible says our earthly lives are a “mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” [James 4:14]. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” [Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36]. Could’ve, Should’ve Would’ve – But Didn’t – What Tragedy!
