march 5 : matthew 25

The Parable of the Ten Virgins
Will you be ready? I always thought this was a weird parable. I didn't quite understand the analogy as well as Jesus probably wanted me to. Why are they virgins? Why are there 5 smart ones and 5 dumb ones? But ah... Jesus wants us to be like the wise ones! Ok, so what does Jesus want us to learn from the wise virgins? First, they were prepared for a long wait. The 5 virgins took extra oil along with them while they waited for the bridegroom to come. They knew that they might have to wait for an hour up to a couple days. In parallel to this parable the next parable has a similar message. The wise servants in the parable were the ones who invested the master's money - looking to the future. So this means for me: store up what is good, do what is good, and steer away from the evil pleasures in this world. Second, be ready for Jesus' coming at any moment. The dumb virgins who left to buy, quickly, extra oil lost their spot in the kingdom of Heaven during their transit to and from the store. Jesus will come when you least expect it, but once he does come and you're not on his list, you're eternally not on his list. So lets be like the smart virgins and not the dumb.