Luke 16 - The Rich Man and Lazarus

“ 19"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In hell,[c] where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So 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.'
25"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. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
27"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
29"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
30" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
31"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

This story tells a lot about human nature. We are sometimes so blinded by our own desires and ambitions that we will not see the truth. Just as the children of Israel saw God’s miracles daily, but still easily lost faith, so too do we see God’s goodness and mercy, but refuse to see or listen. So too are our lost friends, who are waiting on a miraculous sign, when the truth is all around them. We tend to think if they can just see one miracle from God then they would repent and believe, but as the story above explains, if they won’t see the truth from the teachings, then the miracle wouldn’t bring them any closer either; they would just want to see another and another and another. The best thing we can do is witness to them, show them the truth, and pray for them to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord. Amen?