…or rather, I HAD a dream…last night…while I was sleeping 😉🥱😴.
In my dream, I was at the doctor’s office, where they were performing some sort of newfangled test on me…
The test was run sort of like a CT scan or MRI, but instead of the results being a picture of what’s going on inside your body, it gave you a snap-shot of the next 5 years of your life…basically, a small glimpse into your future.
In this dream, one of the events of my future was childbirth…😱😱😱 I immediately thought, someone must have mixed up the tapes or something, because sister I’ve already been there, done that, and got the T-shirt — thanks, I’m good. 😂😂😂
But that’s when the doctor explained, this baby isn’t your’s — you’re a surrogate for someone else.
Annnnddddd….that’s when I woke up — cliffhanger, I know. 🙄
I never found out who I was a surrogate for and I can’t remember any other details that were “revealed” in the dream…But it all left me wondering…if you and I were given the chance to see what the next 5 years of our lives would hold, would we take it?
What would we do with that information? Would it serve as a wake-up call, propelling us to live our lives differently than we are today?
According to Jesus’ parable about The Rich Man and Lazarus (in Luke 16:19-31)…maybe not…
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. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and 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. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So 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. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, 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 family, 28 for 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.’
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.’”
Pals, I think this last verse says it all…if we shut our hearts to the teachings of the Bible, we can’t expect a wake-up call any other way — not through a dream, not with a medical test that could foresee the future, and not even by a family member coming back from the dead to warn us of things to come! The Scriptures themselves ARE meant to be our wake-up call!
They contain the message of Jesus, the one who did come back from the dead and is alive evermore…and He came not only to warn us, but to save us.
Don’t miss that wake-up call, because this really is one of those situations where if “you snooze, you lose.”
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” – Ephesians 5:14
If I could encourage you to do anything today, it would be to read the Bible at home, get in a weekly Bible study group, and visit a Sunday worship service at your local church (I know some great churches of Christ I can help direct you to if you need help finding one).
Until next time…I will be watching what I eat before bed. 😜
-PWAP
