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March 8, 2008
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
One Phone Call, by Russ Lawson
I had someone close to me who was arrested not long ago. This person's
vehicle had broken down and he was along the side of the road when a
police officer stopped to help. The officer did a routine check on this
person's license and found that he had an outstanding traffic violation
about which he had forgotten -- a ticket he had intended to pay, but
had put away, misplaced, and forgotten. A notice of a court date was
sent, but he misplaced the letter, and forgot once again. The officer
gave him an opportunity to call someone and tell them of the situation,
so he chose to call me.
This all happened on a Friday, and the police told me it would be a
simple thing to deal with. It wasn't. The legal system couldn't get
this person before the judge that day, and since it was a Friday, the
courts were closed the next two days. This person ended up spending
three days locked up because he forgot something -- something that he
considered "not that important" at the time.
I was reading Scripture and ran across the story of the rich man and
the beggar Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Do you remember what happened? The
poor beggar, Lazarus, lay outside of the door of the rich man's house
every day begging for scraps of food. The rich man ignored him. They
both died, with the rich man going to "a place of torment" and the
beggar going to "a place of paradise." The rich man now becomes the
beggar -- begging "father Abraham" to give him some relief. Abraham
says that this is not possible, so the rich man asks Abraham to send
the beggar, Lazarus, back to warn his family. Father Abraham basically
replied, "No, they have to realize what is important for themselves.
They have the Scriptures and the teachers and the preachers; they need
to listen to those God has already sent to them."
When I read this, I realized that the rich man was not so different
from my close friend. The rich man forgot what was important -- serving
God and those who are in need! He may have had very good intentions,
but just never got around to making God and needy people a priority in
his life. Then, when he least expected it, he was "incarcerated" in
that place of torment. Basically, when he realized there was no hope of
parole, no early release, that his was a life sentence, he begged for
one phone call (figuratively) to warn his five brothers; but it was not
allowed.
We had better do it now!
Let me ask you, have you forgotten what is really important? If you
were in the rich man's place, who would you call? Who would you want to
avoid making the same mistakes you made?
Let me suggest that just like the rich man, we only get one chance at
life! Unlike the erroneous message of some television programs, once
you are dead, all connection with this earth is ended. There are no
second chances to make things right or to help your loved ones to
change their lives. The Bible tells us, "And inasmuch as it is
appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Hebrews
9:27 NASB).
So if we need to help someone in need, or need to change our life's
priorities, or if we need to help someone else change theirs, we had
better do it now, while we have the opportunity.
My prayer is that we will all awaken to the reality of NOW, because
it's all we have!
---------
(c) 2008 Russ Lawson <rlawson@wclo.net>, Messages from the Heart
<http://www.mfth.net/aboutus.html>. All rights reserved.
RELATED LINKS:
* Cashing in Our Hearts
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200703/20070305_cashingin.html
* Lost!
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200608/20060802_lost.html
* I Wish You Could See
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/199912/19991231_could.html
* Messages from the Heart
http://www.mfth.net/aboutus.html
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200803/20080308_onephonecall.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
WILD AT HEART, by John Eldredge
Helping men rediscover their masculine heart, this is a guide to
understanding Christian manhood and Christian men.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?153
Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
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