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November 8th

The bible reading is in Matthew 25.

This chapter is a continuation of Christ’s teaching to his disciples from the Mt of Olives after his final visit to the Temple.

Jesus had already told his friends that he would be killed soon, be buried, and on the third day, he would rise to live again. Jesus had already told them that he would ascend to heaven one day and that he would send them the Holy Spirit to empower them for kingdom life and work.

Jesus was now teaching them, in this Olivet discourse, about His second coming...how to wait for it and what to do in the meantime. Jesus used parables to teach those lessons.

“The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25:1‬

The bridegroom is coming for the bride. The Old Testament spoke of God as the groom and Israel as the bride. When Jesus called himself the groom he was once again identifying himself as God...the Messiah. Pretty bold.

The disciples knew the story. Weddings were a big deal in their culture. There had been a year since the couple pledged their love for a lifetime to each other. The Groom had been building a house for his bride. When that was finished, he would come for his bride and escort her to the wedding feast and to their new home together.

As custom, the bride would choose bridesmaids to go with her to the wedding. They would have their oil lamps prepared for the procession, just in case, the groom came at night for his beloved.

In Jesus’ story, there were 10 girls. Their main responsibility was to make sure that they had oil for their lamp. Sadly, 5 of the 10 had no oil when the bridegroom came. 5 were not ready for the coming of the groom. Because they didn't have the oil, they were denied entry to the wedding feast.

This was sad in a lot of ways. All ten girls expected to go to the wedding. Only 5 got to go in. So....How were they to wait for the groom? Make sure they had the oil.

The oil represented the Holy Spirit. And without the dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in a life. That life is not prepared to meet the Lord at his coming. That reminds me of the apostle Paul’s message...

“You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:9‬

How are we to wait for Jesus’ second coming? Examine the lamp of our heart and life. Are we in love with Jesus? Or are we just in love with ourselves?

If that’s the case, then we have not the Spirit of Christ and do not belong to Him and His wedding with the bride to come.

And what were the disciples to do in the meantime? While they waited eagerly for Christ’s return?

Use the talents that were given to them by God to serve the purposes of God each day.

“For the kingdom will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25:14-15‬ ‭

God gave the talents. Anything that we can do is a gift from God. We thank him for those abilities and we give Him the credit for what we might accomplish using those talents.

God gave some people more talents than he gave others. True. God is sovereign and He does His will however he chooses for his glory. But according to the story, the ones that used their talents for the Master’s glory received the same “Well done thou good and faithful servant...”

Lord we are waiting...the Holy Spirit within us prompts us to remember who gave us our talents and to use them as you wish. Praise your name!

Have a great day