The Folly of Being Unprepared (Our Daily Walk)

(My thoughts are in blue and are italicized) 


"While they went to buy, the Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut." -- Mat 25:10.

The foolish virgins made five great mistakes.

(1)They made no provision for the continuance of their light. It is not enough merely to have the lamp; it must be lit and maintained, because there is something for the fire to feed on. How many there are who are on fire and in earnest during the first stage of their religious life, but they have made no provision for maintaining the flame which has been kindled by the grace of God. They have lamps, but have neglected to take oil. The oil stands for fellowship with the Lord Jesus, for the grace of the Holy Spirit, for the daily study of the Bible, for the kindling communion of worship with fellow-Christians.

(2)They slept. There was a difference between the sleep of the foolish and that of the wise. There are two kinds of sleep. The one arises from a sense of security and trust. Every preparation has been made; all has been done that could be done, and we resign ourselves deliberately to the care of God. So Peter slept in the prison, before the angel came to deliver him. But there is another kind of sleep. The sleep of the sentry, when the foe is stealing up the pass; of the pilot, when the ship is making for the serried teeth of the rocks; of the nurse, when the patient's life is quivering in the balance. These foolish ones had no right to sleep, when they were so utterly unready to meet the Bridegroom. We must not take things for granted, or say "Peace, peace, when there is no peace!"

(3) They thought they could procure oil from the wise. But the appeal was in vain. Each must bear his own burden of responsibility in the sight of God. We may "buy without money and without price," but each must appropriate the living grace and power of Jesus for himself.

(4)They thought they could get in; "Lord, Lord, open to us!" But the door was irrevocably closed! "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?"

(5)They thought that the Bridegroom would recognize them. But He said: "I know you not." Let each ask himself: "Does Jesus know me? Will he recognize me at last?" The only way to be sure, is to kneel at the foot of His Cross until He seals us with the Holy Spirit, and says: "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine."

This devotional gives 5 good directions on how to be prepared when our Lord and Savior comes back to earth to bring His children home.

(1) Spread the fire of the gospel. It is a grand occasion when we turn our lives to Christ and are saved, but then what? Do we just sit around, keeping this new found key to freedom to ourselves? I think not. We take that key and unlock the chains from as many people as possible. Now, we as humans cannot save people, but we can shed some light on their chains of bondage and show them how to find this freedom we possess. Also, God gave all people a free will, so it will be their choice whether or not to be free. It is our duty as Christians to spread the gospel. I believe that if we are given the opportunity to share God's love and ignore what God has set before us, the blood of that person will be on our hands on the day of judgement (if that person dies a sinner because we did not witness).

(2) Stay alert. As the devotional said, there are 2 kinds of sleeping: (1) the sleep we finally obtain when we know all is prepared and ready to meet our Maker and (2) the slumber of the foolish who are not ready. This second kind of sleep not only endangers us, but it also risks the lives of others around us. If we are ignoring our jobs (as witnesses and in our everyday jobs), it shows that we do not care. If a nurse in the ICU is sleeping on her job and is ignoring the urgent call of her patient, she would not only be fired from her position, but would be arrested for murder, because it was because of her that the patient died. It is the same on judgement day. We are given the task of going into the world and spreading the gospel of Christ. If we are sleeping on our jobs and ignoring the urgent call from God to go and witness, then we are saying that we don't care what happens to those lost souls in need. We don't care that we could be their last hope. We see so many people in need and yet we let these souls, thirsty for the truth, pass by us without a second glance because we are too wrapped up in our own selfish pleasures (sleeping) to care about anything or anybody else. 

(3) Take responsibility. In our Christian walk and in life in general, we have to take responsibility for our words and actions. We can't just pawn of our wrong doings on others and think that God will over-look what we have done. No, God expects us to "own-up" to our doings and then repent. 1John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It didn't say if somebody else confesses our sins God will forgive us. No, we have to take responsibility.

(4) Don't wait. Never listen to somebody when they say "oh, it's never too late", because here we see that sometimes it is too late. The foolish virgins waited until the Bridegroom came before they decided to wake up and realize "I need to be prepared for when the Lord returns". If we wait until the judgement day to repent of our sins and get saved, friends it WILL BE TOO LATE. Please don't let another second go by. If your heart is not right with God, please wake up and realize that NOW is the time to be ready. Don't let God's love and salvation pass you by without grabbing hold and hanging on till you hear God say "Well done my child, you have made it home." Those are the words I long to hear. Just to think of my Creator saying those words to me is just too much to bear without my soul bursting with joy. It is such a blessing to know that if I hold my head above the waves of temptation and not give in or back down, then one day I will be able to hear those sweat melodious words.

(5) Put on the right clothes. The foolish virgins thought that Jesus would recognize them and let them in, but they weren't wearing the right spiritual clothes. They slumbered in sin and thus wore the stained and tattered garment of a sin-filled soul. God provides us with the garments that will be recognized as our invitation to enter the gates of Heaven. God has provided His word as a guide for us. He shows us what we need to do to be prepared, but it's up to us to actually gird ourselves with His holy raiment. Only with the right spiritual "clothes" will Jesus recognize that we are His and let us enter into His holy feast. I pray that each and every one of us is ready for that day to come.