Spend Time Wisely

Take care, friend, for the walks in life you hate,
As well, the pleasant ones you dearly love;
They may haunt you beyond your death's date,
Whether you're sent below, or brought above!
What if, in hell, your torment takes its cue
From things you loved most in the present day?
If sexual lust, to entice until you
Can wait no longer, then to snatch away!
Or, above, if good food you enjoyed here,
To keep your table laden with cuisine,
No dish e'er empty; no end to good cheer;
Would in time make the food lover less keen!
Choose wisely in what way to pass your days,
Lest eternity make you rue your ways!

We get a glimpse of heaven and hell in the story Jesus told of the beggar and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. Lazarus would lie at the gate of the rich man and beg for crumbs, while the rich man spent his time in fine living and eating rich food. Lazarus died and was taken to heaven by the side of Abraham. There he was comforted with food and plenty. The rich man died and went to hell where he was perpetually thirsty and in torment. He could see Abraham and Lazarus across the wide gulf that separated them. He called to Abraham and asked him to have Lazarus dip his finger in water and touch his lips.

"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, and besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'" (Luke 16:25-26)

We cannot describe the wonderful things we will see and do in our afterlives in heaven---only brief bits like this---nor the torments of hell. We do know that hell is hot, because it is described in the Bible as the Lake of Fire. It is prepared by God for the fallen angels and people who choose not to accept Jesus during their lives. The story told above is not a parable.