As a teenager I joined the Boy Scouts, and always remembered the Boy Scout Motto. “Be Prepared.”
The story of the 10 Virgins, Matthew 25:1-13, illustrates this. Five where ready with their lamps when the Bridegroom came and five were not.
This is symbolic, as we don’t know when the Lord shall return, we don’t know the day nor the hour. He just might come like a thief in the night, and we need to keep oil in our lamps, because in your waiting you don’t have time to run back to the store.
This was the issue with the five foolish virgins. They were not prepared for the bridegroom; they were not prepared to wait on the Lord. They were just caught in the moment of fashion, being on the list, and just hanging out with the in-crowd.
The Bible tells us, while they were waiting on the bridegroom, they ran out of oil, and then they begged of the wise for some of their oil, but the wise didn’t want to run out as well.
Remember the bigger question is “Are YOU ready for the return of Jesus?”
You cannot acquire a relationship with Jesus by osmosis.
You cannot “catch” faith like you catch a cold.
A relationship with Jesus is intentionally built and there are no shortcuts to the process.
There are many normal, everyday things that can distract us. Work needs to be done, bills need to be paid, groceries, need to be purchased and on and on it goes.
It is vital that we don’t get caught up in the routine of the world and forget our relationship with Jesus because we may not even notice the spiritual oil is missing, until it is too late.
The question for us is, will we be ready when the Bridegroom comes? The invitation has been sent out, you have already been invited.
It doesn’t matter when the Bridegroom returns and all the things that happen in the meantime should not be our focus. What matters is this, are you prepared?
Title: Bridesmaids Sleeping; Date: ca. 20th century; Building: St. Giles’ Church; Object/Function: Stained glass; City/Town: Oxford; Country: United Kingdom; Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13
