Wake up and Christ will shine on you – Ephesians 5:14
Do you ever fall asleep while you’re waiting?
One of our team members (I won’t name names 🤪) has a knack for dozing off at the worst times. Once, he fell asleep while waiting at the airport and missed his flight! He went to the desk, and after explaining his predicament, he was rebooked; however, the next flight was not for several hours. Determined not to miss his second flight of the day, he tried to stay awake –but the long layover got the better of him, and exhaustion took over… You guessed it; he missed the second flight as well 🤦🏻♂️.
This reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins, found in Matthew 25.
They were all part of a wedding party and were supposed to wait for the bridegroom's arrival. But when he was delayed, all of them fell asleep while waiting. When the bridegroom finally arrived, they woke up, but only the five wise virgins, who had brought extra oil for their lamps, were allowed to enter the wedding. The foolish ones, whose lamps had burned out because they lacked oil, missed out.
Jesus is our Bridegroom, and He is coming back! We want to be ready when He does (Ephesians 5:25-33 and Revelation 19:7-8).
This week, we will explore together how to make sure we never run out of oil. But for now, just remember that in Jesus’ eyes, you are a beautiful, flawless and blameless virgin. You may not feel that way, but you have been made blameless by the completed work of Christ on the cross (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 and Romans 8:1-4) and you have been called to wait for Him.
Let’s pray together:
Heavenly Father, thank You that I am like a pure and blameless virgin in Your eyes. Teach me how to cultivate and store the oil that You desire in my life, and help me to wait for You.
