Prepared 2

Matthew 25:1-13

Weather during spring soccer meets in our area can be deceptive. I have gone to watch our daughter play when the sun is shining and I think the evening will be warm. But then the wind picks up and I end up huddling in my lawn chair looking with envy at the other parents who came prepared. They have warm blankets, hooded sweatshirts and even a thermos of coffee or cocoa. And I wish I had been prepared.

Today’s passage is one of Jesus’ parables to explain about the kingdom of God. Who are the people involved? What do half of them do? What do the others fail to do? What is the end result of those who are foolish?

The story is simple. Five virgins (or bridesmaids or young women) are prepared for the duty that is in front of them. They have thought ahead and planned ahead. They are prepared.

The other five haven’t prepared themselves for what is to come. As a result they will be left out of the final reward, the celebration, the banquet of abundance that has been provided.

We, of course, are to be like the wise virgins. We may not need to have extra jars of oil, but we need to be prepared.

What are we to be prepared for? The coming of Christ. We need to be spiritually and emotionally ready for the return of Jesus. We should also be ready at all times to do the work of Christ in the world.

While it is wise to ready our souls for the end of days and our eternal reward, we should also ready ourselves as Christians to live as Christians, to serve as Christians and to honor the Lord. We should not be caught sleeping. We can’t let our spiritual fervor and dedication to the service of God fall asleep or become listless.

Nor can we be caught without all the things we need. The oil for our lamps is a deep understanding of God’s message and Christ’s teaching. The things we need are a heart ready to love, a mouth ready to give praise, lips ready to share the good news of salvation, and hands ready to offer help to those in need.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How much oil do you have?