Are You Read for the Groom? ( Part I)

“At that time 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 took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.  The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.  The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.”  Matthew 25:1-5

 

This is a familiar passage of scripture often used to teach about living in readiness of Christ’s return.  In the Life Application Study Bible, the commentary explains the wedding day custom of the time:  “On the wedding day the bridegroom went to the bride’s house for the ceremony, then the bride and groom, along with a great procession, returned to the groom’s house where a feast took place, often lasting a full week.  These ten virgins were waiting to join the procession, and they hoped to take part in the wedding banquet…”  As you can see, being ready to go to the party was a huge social event in those days.  To miss out was a huge disappointment for a young virgin- and quite instructional to us today.

In recent months, my heart has been so stirred about what the Bible terms “the end days” and the rapture of the church- where the Lord calls the saved to meet him in the air.  For those of us who have asked Jesus into our hearts as our personal Lord and Savior, we look forward to that time with mixed emotions.  We are eager to go out and join him, but of course, we do not want any of our unsaved friends, family, neighbors, etc., to be left out of the celebration.  We want to avoid seeing anyone that we care about left behind.  As Christians, we are mandated to care about every human being; thus, we look to this day with eager anticipation for ourselves and dread for those who have not made preparations to go.

In later posts, we will discuss the return of the “groom”, but for the purpose of today I want to pause in this passage where the Scripture ended.  Ten maidens had grabbed their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five thought ahead and took the oil that made the lamps useful.  Five foolishly failed to plan and had lamps with no ability to use them.  We know that Jesus put major emphasis on Him being “the light of the world” and us being His light in the world today.  All the virgins, at a glance, appeared to have the same potential to illuminate.  But upon further inspection, five were a farce.  They had the appearance, but no ability.  How many of us “Christians” claim the name of Christ, but fail to truly have the goods?  How many of us attend church, speak the language, have five Bibles, but are without the oil in our lives?  In the Bible, oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.  The five wise had the presence of the oil, or the Holy Spirit, thus they were able to light their path to lead them to the groom.

In these evil days that we are living in, it is going to take a little more preparation to keep our lights shining bright.  We are going to have to make sure that we bathe ourselves in the precious Holy Spirit of God and that we know our Word inside and out.  People are sick, beat-down and hurting.  What do we have to offer them?  Are we carriers of the light?  Or are we false advertisers, a mere charade?

The days of easy living for Christians is probably behind us.  Things are tough.  The darkness is growing.  But a pin-prick of light in a pitch-black night will draw all eyes to it.  Are you lighting up for Jesus?

Dear Lord, have mercy on the church.  Forgive us for blending in, giving in, and extinguishing our light.  Help us to shine for You.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri