Wisdom and Foolishness

Matthew 25:1-13:

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Blog:

Many of us have flown at least once on a commercial jet. During the safety announcements before take-off, we are reminded that, in a situation where there is a loss of cabin pressure, air masks will need to be worn. But, the most important part of the announcement is the reminder to ensure that we put our own masks on before attempting to help others with theirs’ – or, we will risk not being able to help anyone (including ourselves). It would be foolish to think that we could help more people without our own masks on – as we’d run out of air very quickly and pass-out. The ten virgins’ Parable here is a stiff reminder of this principle. The wise virgins had prepared while they waited for the Bridegroom (Jesus) by storing-up enough oil for their lamps. They were ready no matter what time/day the Bridegroom arrived. In our earthly lives, we are all running out of time to get ready for the Messiah. Bodily-death comes to us all – that’s a guarantee; nobody’s “getting out of her alive”. But, through surrendering to the Lord as soon as we can, we can enable ourselves to prepare for His arrival – whether right now or 2,000 years from now. We can never have too much “Oil” (Jesus) for our Faith Lamps; everybody this side of Heaven has room for improvement Spiritually – even the most Holiest of Holy Folks that we know. So, let’s be sure to Listen to Jesus and what His Word says (not what the world says) – and, let’s not re-write the Bible. We can Trust God with the cares of this world (and all of the chaos that continues to be spun by satan and his cronies). And, through simple Obedience to Jesus, our Faith Lamps will always be Full!