April 09, 2020

Matthew 25:1-13

1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

One day recently I went to the grocery store to pick up some items for dinner. This was not uncommon. The result was uncommon, however. When I walked into the store nothing seemed out of order. As I walked to the back of the store, I quickly realized something had happened. The refrigerated section was empty. The shelves were almost completely bare. The items I needed were gone. I was unable to get what I needed. I couldn’t get what I thought I would pick up easily.
This passage tells us that the bridegroom went away. During this time period in Jewish history the bridegroom would go and build a house acceptable for his bride before they were to marry. When the house was ready the bridegroom would come and get his bride unannounced. At that time, they would marry and have a 7-day celebration.
The bride and bridesmaids would have to be ready to be called away at a moments notice. This means all preparations had to be made beforehand. This story tells us of some “bridesmaids” that did not prepare ahead of time. When the groom arrived, they were unprepared. Because of this, they were left out of the celebration.
This story illustrates vividly of how we are to be prepared for Christ’s return. The “bridesmaids” had about a year to get everything in order to get everything lined up, yet for some reason they weren’t ready. We have been given ample time to get ready to meet our Savoir, buy there will be some that aren’t ready. Some have never trusted Christ as their Savior. If Christ were to come today, they would be shut out from the celebration which will be in heaven and will spend an eternity apart from God. God wants us all to be in heaven and makes it simple. All we must do is put our faith in Jesus as our Savior.
We can be saved and unprepared to meet God as well. We can be living for today and not for eternity. Matthew 6:19-20 says…Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: We can be so earthly minded that we miss out on rewards God has planned for us in heaven.
In conclusion, lets focus our eyes on eternity and make sure we’re ready to meet Jesus.
Jacob Jarriel