I was recently visiting with a wretched soul. Because of poor decision-making, this soul was crying uncontrollably. The devil disguised the evil deed as doing good. But it soon turned into lust of the flesh. Now, with the short journey over, the realization of reality rose hotter than the scathing sun in a dry and parched land. Yet the embittered soul refused the repentant road.
The unrepentant soul reminded me of the view from above that the “rich man” saw in Luke 16:19-31. All his life he has poor Lazarus at his door. But never even a single second was spent soothing poor Lazarus. Every second of every day was spent taking care of self. After realizing his own eternal hopelessness, he considers the misery on earth:
27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
Today we have a saying: The “50,000-foot view”. It refers to the seeing of things from a bird’s-eye perspective, from the most expansive view possible. Friend, what does your “view from above” look like?
