Matthew 25:1,2

Matthew 25:1,2 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Jesus tells a parable about ten bridesmaids who had come to a wedding. The bride and bridegroom were to arrive later, but no one knew exactly when. Back in those days, no one had a watch to keep time. They didn’t have a phone to call and say that they would be late. Neither did they have a cell phone to call and say that they were finally on their way and would be there in ten minutes. So the bridesmaids in our story simply had to be ready for whenever the bride and groom arrived. And in this parable, five of the girls were wise and five of them were lazy. When it got late, the wise bridesmaids went out and bought oil for their lamps. It was getting on towards evening and soon would be dark. But the lazy girls didn’t want to be bothered. They thought, “Oh, we can go our later and get some oil.” But when the bride and groom showed up about midnight, all ten girls jumped up out of bed and grabbed their lamps to go out to meet the happy couple. But five had oil in their lamps with lights burning and five didn’t. What good is a lamp and no oil? So the five without oil quickly ran out to get some, but got back too late. Everyone was already inside at the wedding feast and they were ashamed. And so it is with the second coming of Jesus Christ. He is going to come, but we don’t know when. He will come suddenly and we should be ready. Are you ready for Jesus to return? I hope so.