“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. ⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ ⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. ¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ ¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ ¹³ “Therefore be prepared, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Matthew 25:1-13

Be prepared.  Sounds like a nice Boy Scout motto, or a warning about natural or man made disasters. Be prepared for the worst to happen – be prepared for a sudden change of plans – be prepared for trouble to come upon you. The parable of the Ten Bridesmaids deals with just this concept, except we are to prepare for the coming of the Lord. But we know how difficult it is to be prepared. When it is hurricane season, we often see, again and again how people who live in these dangerous areas of the coasts are not prepared. They know hurricanes can and will happen, but they believe that it will never happen to them. So they are mostly “unprepared” for what is imminent. It seems counter-intuitive to us who do not live along the coasts, yet we have our own situations where we should be prepared, but often are not.

Can we prepare fully for the coming of the Lord?  Are we able to conceive what that event will be like? Though we do not know when, or what it will be like, we should pay attention to our relationship with G-d every day so that when that day comes, we will feel as prepared as we possibly could be.

Pastor Dave

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.”  Matthew 24:36-43

Keep Awake! Jesus says; for You do not know when the Lord is coming, the day or the hour is only known by the Father. Keep awake can mean two different things. One is to fight the tug and the pull of sleeping. In this instance, it is less a matter of watchfulness than it is a drowsy existence – without keen awareness, and lacking in attentiveness. The other way to consider staying awake is to be alert—being attentive for danger. There is more purpose in this action since to be alert, one must always be attentive to everything that is in their presence. Every sound, every movement is listened to, seen, and examined. Which way would G-d want us to “keep awake” do you think? Does G-d seek a drowsy existence with us, barely hearing the word, and always in need of nudging us back into awareness?  Or, does G-d seek a relationship with you and me where we are attentive and aware and awake? God does not want a relationship with a drowsy Christian. G-d commands us to watch, listen and learn – for our wakefulness will strengthen our relationship with G-d.

Pastor Dave