Are You Ready For the Groom? Part II

              

“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

 

I have heard all of my life that Jesus is coming back soon.  As a little girl I feared that He would come before I could grow up, get married and have a family of my own.  In time, it has become easier to “put off” any expectation of His coming and live in the moment.  Instead, I find myself marking off the next thing on my calendar of life that I want to experience and enjoy.  Can you relate to this feeling?

When I read this passage of Scripture it is easy for me to judge the virgins for falling asleep while waiting on the bridegroom.  But let’s be honest.  He is a long time in coming!  It is so hard to remain awake when he is long in coming.  A few years ago, we kept a night-long vigil by my stepdad’s bed as he prepared to meet the Lord. I cleaned house all night, trying to stay busy enough to be awake, to be present for him in this crucial hour of his life. I became so angry with myself when I dozed off in the early morning hours and had to be awakened at his home-going.  How could I go to sleep in such a moment of crisis, such a crucial moment?  It was very easy to go to sleep because I had cried myself to exhaustion.  We had been up with him around the clock, rotating for weeks before the end.  A human body can only endure so much.

The bridegroom was long in coming and the virgins became weary from life, from watching for him, and carrying their lamps.  Just like the church today, many of us have become weary in well doing and have fallen asleep.  Just as Jesus commanded the disciples to keep watch with him the night he was betrayed- they had fallen asleep at the critical moment in time.

Jesus is coming back, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.  His return is at hand.  Will he find you awake, watching and carrying a lamp that burns bright, or will he find you asleep, with a fire that has dwindled in the night?  We, the church, the Bride of Christ must awake, shake ourselves and look!  Life is full of fears and uncertainty at this time.  It is easy to get weary, but we cannot afford to slumber! His return is closer than when you first began to read this post. 

When Jesus ascended into heaven after his resurrection, the disciples stood there for quite a while before the angels urged them to quit looking in the sky and get busy.  We are to be busy about the Father’s work.  But maybe, just maybe, it is time to work while again looking up for His return.

Oh God, I get so weary in life, so tired of the battle.  Strengthen me, sober me and help me to be vigilant in watching.  Help me not to be found asleep when you return.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri