Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1912-04-03
CHRISTIAN ENOEAVOR
Prayer Meeting Topic For Week Be-
ainninq April Z, 1912

Topic,-The Kind of life we shall wish
we had lived.-Luke xvi 1881 easter
Conservation meeting) Edited by sher-
man II. Doyle, d. D.
The thoughtful boy, weary with his
studies, begins to think He imagines
himself a man in middle life, ignorant
and untitled for business and on that
account shut out from many positions
Then be tries TO imagine how under
such conditions he would look back at
the opportunities that were unimprov-
ed. In other words, he endeavors to
Imagine the kind of a life he would
under such conditions wish he had
lived when at school, Ten minutes Of
such thinking would lead any boy to
take up his books with fresh zeal and
push on to seeis an education.
There is nothing more sad than such
regret. We must not wait, as did the
rich man, until it is impossible to do
more than grieve over a misspent past.
Jesus gives us this account of these
two men that we may be assisted in
the use of our imagination and fore
east the future with some real appre-
citation of what it means to die, that
we may the better understand what it
ought to mean to US to live.
This account of the rich man and
Lazarus is generally referred to as
parable, but there is nothing in the
words of Jesus to indicate that it is
anything but the description of what
actually took place in the lives Of two
men. 1t is not introduced as para
Bile, and it probably should be under
stood as little vision the Lord Jesus
has given us of the experiences of two
men beyond the grave. At all events
it establishes the fact of a conscious
personal life after death in which our
identity is preserved, and the recol-
lection of our life on earth stands be-
fore us in all its completeness. There
can be no question in the light of these
words but that after death we will
have plenty of opportunity for reflect
ing upon the kind of life we shall then
wish we had lived.
l. We shall certainly wish we had
lived with a true estimate of the rel
alive value of things. To be cloth
ed in purple and fine linen and to fare
eumptuously every day was evidently
this rich mans idea of truly success
full life How suddenly death changes
that conception of life and success.
Wealth is not to be despised. although
Jesus assures us it is dangerous pos
session. Rightly used it is great
blessing. But there are things eternal,
a treasure where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt and where thieves do
not break through nor steal" Moth
ing will look so small as a life of mere
display and selfish qualification when
we look back upon it from beyond the
grave.
2. We shall wish we had lived
with more regard for our fellow men.
What a true picture this gives us Of
the selfishness so largely seen in this
world. 1t was nothing to this rich
man that beggar named Lazarus was
lying just outside his gate. He evil
IDENTIFY thought it n great kindness on
his part to permit him to remain there
and to allow him to be fed with the
crumbs which fell from the rich mans
table. The rich man passed a great
unrecognized opportunity every time he
went in and out. How fully he real
lied this when he looked back.
3. We shall wish we had lived
with a clearer conception of the mighty
influence of our example. The rich
man remembered his five brethren.
This seems the saddest part of the rich
mans earthly experience. He realizes
the influence OF his example. He can
anticipate what they viii say to him If
they should come into this place of tor
ment. Selfishness is still dominant He
is planning to avert the reproaches that
a meeting with his FIVE brethren would
bring down upon him. He felt that the
influence of his example was already
so manifest in their lives that they
would certainly follow In his footsteps
unless one went unto them from the
dead. Many people live their own way,
never thinking of their example. May
the word of Jesus make US wise while
we are yet walking in the midst of our
lof Fp,n