Message from Scripture: 4/17/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today is Luke 16:31. “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.”

 

This person to which Jesus spoke had basically lived a self-centered life, taking no thought of tomorrow, or of those around him, as so many do today. He had no time to pay attention to what the Law had to say to him about the life he lived. Upon dying, he found himself in Hades, being in torment (Luke 16:23).  He was concerned about finding relief from the judgment of sin, of the torment sin brings eternally. It was not to be for him (Luke 16:24-26), but his suffering caused him to want his family, who were living a self-indulgent lifestyle as well, to avoid what he did not. All of the warnings he may have heard in life, the image of those whose needs could have been helped by him, the teaching of the Law regarding living for God and not self, seemed inconsequential to him, until he experienced eternal torment for himself. He came to understand, but it was too late!

 

The Bible is God’s word, a message to us from He who is eternal, the “Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Rev. 22:13).  It reveals to us what life is all about, and how to live it abundantly, now and eternally.  It’s a voice from Him who will judge us, which speaks to us about finding eternal life, not eternal judgment.  The question is whether we will listen and obey while there is still time.

 

We must submit our lives to God who speaks to us today through His word, the Bible, and fully trust in His promises while there is still time. Will we listen to His voice from eternity, as He calls us to live for Him, and find the life that is life indeed? Do you take to heart what He reveals in Scripture? It makes the difference between eternal life or eternal torment. Spend time in the Bible, as it alone speaks to the needs of our souls, now and forever. God bless.

 

Robert