Challenge to Compassion

By Bill Bowles

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’”

Luke 16:19-26 New International Version (NIV)

Key Ideas

• Food and health are wealth
• Need at our doorstep
• The great divide

Action Step

Seek out the facts about the hungry people of the world–at home and around the globe–the cause and steps toward the solution of this human dilemma.

Prayer

Lord, move me today beyond guilt feelings about starving people to involvement in some worthwhile projects of caring.

This devotion is from a book of devotions written by Bill Bowles, resident of Arkansas City Presbyterian Manor.