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The Boy Scouts have a motto that should apply to everyone. “Be prepared.” In most cases people are prepared for things that happen.
For example, a mother of a young infant doesn’t go anywhere without her diaper bag. She is prepared to change a diaper, change clothes or to give a bottle to the baby. To leave home with an infant and not be prepared for these things would be foolish. You know the baby will need them.
On the other hand, some people surprisingly are not prepared for things that they know will happen. Such is the case many times with a person’s spiritual condition. They know that God exists and that Jesus died for them. But they are not willing to be prepared to meet their God on judgment.
Jesus tells a parable about proper preparation in Matthew 25:1-13. This is the parable of the virgins.
Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
There are three main lessons that we can learn from this parable.
The first is to be prepared. As Christians we need to always be prepared for the return of Jesus. How can we do this? Simply by doing His will and being faithful to Him.
Some have difficulty in keeping the commitments they make to God and Jesus. Perhaps their loyalty isn’t as strong on Monday as it is on Sunday. Some really do not live so as to be prepared to see Christ return at any time. But by doing what God says all the time, we can find ourselves ready at any moment for Christ’s return.
The second lesson is to purchase what cannot be borrowed. Most of us have hand-me-downs from our parents. Maybe it is a chair, some china or even a car. We may have even inherited these from our parents. But we cannot borrow or inherit faith.
Just because your mother was a faithful Christian and attended worship often doesn’t mean that you are faithful. You can learn from her example, but you must be responsible for your own faith and action. This parable demonstrated individual responsibility. Each is responsible for his/her own.
The third lesson is don’t procrastinate. We must be willing to seize the opportunity to accept God’s offer and then be faithful to Him. Far too many people will put off this decision until they are no longer able to make it. This is sad—especially when they know the right thing to do, but are just unwilling to do it.
As someone once wrote, “Live so the preacher doesn’t have to lie at your funeral.” Better than that, live each day so that you are prepared to welcome Christ when He comes to take us all to judgment.
On Our Daily Walk today, may we contemplate what we would do if we knew that the world would end in the next hour. May we think of the priorities we would place on our relationship with God and may we act today to make sure that we are found righteous by Him.
Our thought for the day: “One who is not prepared today will be less so tomorrow.”
May God bless you on your daily walk.
© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.
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