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Missed Opportunities
By Dan | July 1, 2007
Hindsight, as the saying goes, is 20/20. Most people are familiar with this expression. When we look the outcomes of different situations in our lives, we can often identify one or more deciding factors. And it’s not always what we do that brings about a result, but sometimes what we don’t do. For instance, there are different ways a person can get a failing grade in school. If the person cheats and gets caught, the grade is a result of a deliberate action. Likewise, the person can simply neglect to study and also fail. We often say that a negative consequence due to in-action is a missed or wasted opportunities.
If we think back to the missed opportunities of our past, we can often measure its severity by its consequences. Being late for the train may result in being late for work and losing some income, but missing an entire day of work without telling one’s employer may result in being fired. So if we were to rank the extent of a missed opportunity, could we say that we would put those things which affect us for a short time at the bottom and those which affect us for life at the top? Not necessarily.
What if there are things that affect us beyond our lives? If we as humans are more than just flesh, if we are really transcendent spiritual beings, then physical death does not mark the end of our existence, but a transition of our conscious form from our current state to another. Throughout history, man has formulated a number of ideas about our post-mortal state. Some believe our essence is reincarnated into another human or animal. Some believe we continue to exist in a ghostly form on this earth. The Bible has has a different explanation. It states that after our death, we will find ourselves in one of two places. If we are a follower of God, we will be with Him eternally in heaven. If we reject God, we will be eternally punished in hell, a place of “outer darkness”, where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mat 22:13)
The Bible records an account of such a transition. In Luke 16, we read about an unamed rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man lived opulently while Lazarus ate from the crumbs of the table of the rich man. When they both passed away, the rich man found himself in hell while Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom, a state of heavenly existence. While the rich man lived a pleasurable life on earth, he woke up in horror to the torments of hell. The rich man asked for mercy, but it was too late by that time. Realizing the severity of his state, the rich man asked for Lazarus to be brought back to earth to see the rich man’s brothers “…that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” (Luke 16:28) But Abraham replied that they already had Moses and the prophets as their witness.
We can learn many things from this story and we will touch on a few points. First, we see that God “is not a respecter of persons.” (Act 10:34) He is not concerned with our standing before the world. The rich man was a successful man by society’s standards and Lazarus was a failure in the world’s eyes. But God looks at the heart. He is not concerned with our standing before man’s eyes. And by the results, we see that Lazurus was ultimately the successful one while the rich man was the failure.
Secondly, this story reminds us that our time on earth is limited. “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (Jam 4:14). It is a vapor, gone in the figurative blink of an eye. Who knows how long the rich man lived on earth? It could have been 50 years or even 100 years. But what is a 100 years compared to a neverending afterlife? The rich man traded ”…the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hbr 11:25) for an eternity in hell. Lazarus, on the other hand, found himself in the eternal comfort of God forever. No two situations, no two conditions can be diametrically farther apart than the eternal wrath of God vs the eternal comfort of God.
Thirdly, and the last thing we will mention, is that God is not silent on this earth. Abraham told the rich man that his brothers, like himself when he was on earth, had opportunity to know God’s decrees through Moses and the prophets. God has given us the Bible to allow us to discover Him. What excuse will we have when we stand before God if we have His Word and we had ignored it? If we were expecting the ghost of a dead man or another supernatural occurrence to show us the way of God, we will be disappointed, as Abraham reminded the rich man. The Bible along with the application of it’s wisdom to our hearts through the Holy Spirit is our escape from hell and it is sufficient.
Though we may not be anything like the rich man, many of us live our lives with a great deal of focus on the here and now. But as important as all the things we juggle today to maintain our lives are, we ought not to lose sight of the most important thing. Because as our stories of missed opportunities continue to be written as we live each day of our lives, the biggest missed opportunity yet lies before us if our hearts are not right before God. “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts…” (Hbr 3:15)
Topics: Theology |