Trading Places
Good morning Scripture reading: St. Luke 16:19-31 Praise song: He welcomes the beggar Meditation: If you were allowed to live someone else's life, who would you pick? While many are drawn to the popular celebrities, others are captivated by the luxury of the rich and powerful. I doubt anyone would willingly trade places with the severely physically afflicted or poverty-stricken. In St. Luke 16, Jesus uses the story of the rich and the beggar to illustrate a fundamental truth highlighting that earthly wealth does not indicate divine favor, showing that the self-indulgent rich will face divine judgment, while the faithful poor will receive eternal comfort. The rich man lives in extreme luxury, dressing in fine clothes and feasting daily. At his gate lies a beggar named Lazarus, covered in sores and starving, hoping to eat even the scraps that fall from the rich man's table. The poor beggar believed in Jesus Ch...