Admit It

 

By Pastor Jeffrey Smith 

 

One of the hardest things for me to do is admit when I am wrong, particularly when I am driving down the road with my wife and I take a wrong turn. I know I’m not the only one. Admitting that we’re wrong is always difficult. When it comes to the way we live our lives, many people will chose a path that is wrong and refuse to relent from it because they cannot admit that they are wrong. 

 

In Luke 16, Jesus tells a story of two men. The first is a rich man who had wealth, social status, power, and influence. The second was a beggar named Lazarus who was laid at the rich man’s gate every day and hoping he could scrounge crumbs from the rich man to eat. The rich man died and went to hell and the Lazarus died and went to heaven. The parable tells of how the rich man could see the glory of heaven and begged for God to send Lazarus to him with some water and relieve his anguish. 

 

The name of the characters in this story tells much about why they end up where they do. Lazarus is not in heaven because he is poor, and the rich man is not in hell because he is rich.  Lazarus means “God has helped me.” Those who trust in the name of the Lord and receive His help are the ones who reach heaven. The rich man, however, lived life helping himself. Not many of us like to admit that we’re wrong. It isn’t easy to face the fact that we’re mistaken. Wrong or not, however, the consequences that we face for choosing our own way, outside of God’s way, are major. The rich man wanted his own way while Lazarus chose God’s way. 

 

Today, you have an opportunity to look at your life and turn away from any choices that are wrong. If you’re wrong, admit it to God and yourself. Make a turn toward living the life that He has called you to live. No matter how far you’ve strayed from the path, you can call out to God like David did and ask for Him to restore you.