And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom; the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom (Luke 16: 22-23).
The scripture above is one of the many scriptures that are misinterpreted to mean that poverty is a prerequisite to Heaven. It must be state emphatically that, poverty is not a prerequisite to Heaven. The only prerequisite to Heaven is accepting Jesus as one’s personal savior and being obedient to Him.
Scripture makes it clear that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). Every blessing we see around us was already in the spirit before becoming real in the physical. So if the child of God has every spiritual blessing, why then should he/she be poor? Many factors may be responsible for the poverty.
Firstly, one may be poor because of lack of knowledge of God’s word. Scripture says, my people perish because of lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).
Secondly, one may be poor because of lack of practice of God’s word. You can know His word, but without doing it, you will not enjoy the fruits. The fruits are hidden in the doing of the word. As Christians, we are doers of the word.
Thirdly, inconsistency in the practice of God’s word may be responsive for poverty. Sometimes, missing the timing of God could be the cause of poverty therefore the need for us to be sensitive to God’s word and His timing.
If we do not work with our hands, we could become poor. God has deposited talent(s) in everybody for wealth creation. Failure to identify, develop and use it may be a cause of poverty. Several other factors not mentioned here may be the cause of poverty.
To conclude scripture does not exactly state the cause of Lazarus’ poverty, nevertheless, poverty is not a prerequisite to enter Heaven.
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