16 March 2017 - the world can't take it away

And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'

It turns out that the rich man sought his strength in flesh. His heart turned away from the LORD. He now experiences the truth of his reality.

He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
But stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
The rich man thinks he has his thirst under control during life. He thinks he has it managed.  It isn't all consuming. He is able to enjoy is sumptuous meals. But the source from which he drinks is not a lasting source. And indeed, his source leaves others like Lazarus deprived of justice. The rich man has the appearance of self-sufficiency. But when the pretense is taken away, when he is utterly deprived of the momentary ways in which he distracts himself from what truly matters, the reality is quite different.

The opposite is true of Lazarus. His hope is ultimately in the LORD. In life he faces heat and drought but without ultimate distress. He suffers for what is ultimately the blink of an eye and then goes to his rest at Abraham's breast. He has such a superabundance of living water that the rich man can't help but ask him to share. But such sharing is impossible. They have both made themselves who they have become by choosing (or not choosing) to trust in the LORD.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
It fears not the heat when it comes,
its leaves stay green;
In the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.
Living water ultimately comes from God alone. He alone is the eternal source and spring. Hoping in him opens us to this source. It connects us to blessings of which the world cannot deprive us, which the world cannot take away.

Let us spread the message to all we know while there is still time. Eventually the world will let down those who rely upon it.

Not so, the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.