“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil.” (Matthew 25:1-4 NLT)
As I’ve mentioned before, parables are not allegories and have but one main point. The point of this parable is preparedness, but there are elements of the story that may demand insight if we’re going to understand what it means to be prepared to meet Jesus at His Second Coming.
The bridesmaids were all dressed properly and all had lamps. They all had expectation that the bridegroom would be coming and they would be invited to the wedding festivities. What they didn’t know was the exact timing of his arrival, just as we don’t. The wise bridesmaids brought extra oil, the foolish did not. What can we learn from their grave error?
In Matthew 5 Jesus refers to those of us who follow Him as “…the light of the world.” Then adds a few verses later that the way we allow that to happen is through our good deeds. In John 15 Jesus says “apart from Me you can do nothing” and before His crucifixion assures us that when the Spirit comes He will empower and enable us to walk faithfully for the Lord and “He will tell you whatever He receives from Me.” What’s the clear implication? We can’t function as believers without the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
Oil in the Old and New Testaments is sometimes used in reference to the Holy Spirit. The issue with the foolish brides’ maids and with us when we seek to operate in the energy of the flesh, is we allow the “oil” of the Holy Spirit to be missing or depleted in our lives. We make decisions that are not Spirit led that result in decisions that can cost us our effectiveness for Christ. What are the implications?
The Spirit prompts us to open our hearts to the Lord, and we do, but like the seed that was scattered on shallow soil, our efforts for the Lord are short lived. We may clean up our lives, begin attending church and from all outward appearances we may look like a Jesus follower, but all of those things can be accomplished in the energy of the flesh.
We may adorn ourselves in the proper spiritual “attire” and show up for the coming of the “Bridegroom”, but if we don’t have the perseverance of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives, we’re going to miss Him when He comes. Does that mean we won’t go to heaven? Obviously, that’s the Lord’s call, but Jesus’ words to the five bridesmaids who weren’t ready when He came don’t sound very promising when He said: “Believe Me, I don’t know you!”
The only time to seek the oil of the Spirit’s presence is in this moment. If you’ve never opened your life fully to the Lord, please do that now. Please tap this link and let Ron Hutchcraft walk you through a brief and clear understanding of how to open your heart to the Lord and explain why that’s so vitally important. Please don’t delay. As the foolish bridesmaids discovered, we can wait too long.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😃
Walking With Jesus 