Today the preaching was on the ten virgins,five with and five without oil.
The Jewish tradition of marriage goes something like this.
The groom travels to the bride's house where they have the main ceremony and then they wend their way back to the groom's house .However there is no telling how long it is going to be before they return with the bride.So the people at the groom's house have a long wait.In the parable we see them returning at midnight.One can visualise in the mind's eye the tiredness of the groom's family awaiting the arrival of the groom with the bride.The ten virgin's are likewise awaiting the groom ,five are actually ready with the oil in their lamps full whereas five are not.
One can imagine when the groom comes back all of them fumbling to receive him ,out of their slumber.The one's who have oil will light their lamps and happily go forward to greet the groom but the ones who do not have the oil will be begging the ones who are ready but are unable to give them their portion because they need it themselves.So the ones who do not have the oil go out for the oil and then the door closes.Frightening to say the least.
The question asked was how do we keep the oil intact and ready?
There were three aspects discussed-
1)Being internally ready with fresh supply of oil.'You have forsaken your first love' should not be the reprimand we get.We need spiritual food on a regular basis.We need to keep growing in the Lord.
The ways we can do it is-
Prayer,
Scripture,
Fellowship,
Reading christian books,biographies of great christian personalities,
Conferences,
Discipleship.
We need to keep each other burning brightly till Christ comes.
2) Ready on the outside-
Invest and help build His kingdom.
Greatest job in the world is 'Jesus business'.When Jesus hires you you are in the business of changing people's lives forever ,for all eternity.
We need to have engine rooms,where we go back to from time to time to strategise,to pray,to seek direction and keep an account of where we are.
3)Caring for the weakest and the most vulnerable.
Jesus spent disproportionate amount of time with the people in the fringes,we are called to do what Jesus did.
We are invited to resubmit ourselves to God's business.
On a poignant note,I was watching a national geagraphy's documentary on Jerusalem.
They were talking about the likelihood of one of the burial place in the cave below being the place where Jesus was burried after His crucification.On the wall is a scribble made by a sharp object with a picture of a boat and a writing which says,'Lord we have come'.The archeologists attribute this writing to about fifteen hundred years ago.To me it was a poignoint reminder of beleivers through generations who have said the same thing over and over again and have been there till they have been taken up in glory.
'Lord I have come.'May that be my life.Amen.
The Jewish tradition of marriage goes something like this.
The groom travels to the bride's house where they have the main ceremony and then they wend their way back to the groom's house .However there is no telling how long it is going to be before they return with the bride.So the people at the groom's house have a long wait.In the parable we see them returning at midnight.One can visualise in the mind's eye the tiredness of the groom's family awaiting the arrival of the groom with the bride.The ten virgin's are likewise awaiting the groom ,five are actually ready with the oil in their lamps full whereas five are not.
One can imagine when the groom comes back all of them fumbling to receive him ,out of their slumber.The one's who have oil will light their lamps and happily go forward to greet the groom but the ones who do not have the oil will be begging the ones who are ready but are unable to give them their portion because they need it themselves.So the ones who do not have the oil go out for the oil and then the door closes.Frightening to say the least.
The question asked was how do we keep the oil intact and ready?
There were three aspects discussed-
1)Being internally ready with fresh supply of oil.'You have forsaken your first love' should not be the reprimand we get.We need spiritual food on a regular basis.We need to keep growing in the Lord.
The ways we can do it is-
Prayer,
Scripture,
Fellowship,
Reading christian books,biographies of great christian personalities,
Conferences,
Discipleship.
We need to keep each other burning brightly till Christ comes.
2) Ready on the outside-
Invest and help build His kingdom.
Greatest job in the world is 'Jesus business'.When Jesus hires you you are in the business of changing people's lives forever ,for all eternity.
We need to have engine rooms,where we go back to from time to time to strategise,to pray,to seek direction and keep an account of where we are.
3)Caring for the weakest and the most vulnerable.
Jesus spent disproportionate amount of time with the people in the fringes,we are called to do what Jesus did.
We are invited to resubmit ourselves to God's business.
On a poignant note,I was watching a national geagraphy's documentary on Jerusalem.
They were talking about the likelihood of one of the burial place in the cave below being the place where Jesus was burried after His crucification.On the wall is a scribble made by a sharp object with a picture of a boat and a writing which says,'Lord we have come'.The archeologists attribute this writing to about fifteen hundred years ago.To me it was a poignoint reminder of beleivers through generations who have said the same thing over and over again and have been there till they have been taken up in glory.
'Lord I have come.'May that be my life.Amen.
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