"TIMELY CHOICES"

Good Evening to All!

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened unto ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. (3) Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, (4) but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps....

(6) And at midnight, a cry was heard: Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him! (7) Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. (8) And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'

(9) But the wise answered saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' (10) And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
Matthew 25:1, 3-4,6-10 NKJV

All of our choices have consequences. Some good and some bad. Now, I know this passage is speaking of the 2nd coming of Christ. The thing is, I can't help but feel that it can be applied to our lives in many ways. Did you know that when you do things for others, God will bless you? (Given that your motive is pure and you are doing it because you love people, and want to help them, not just to get blessed by God). This parable above kind of puts me in mind of that. such as instead of the bridegroom coming look at it as blessings coming, yet if our hearts are closed and we do not hear the Holy Ghost telling us to help this person, or that one, and we ignore them, then we will definitely miss out on God's blessing as well. We can look at helping others as "trimming our lamps" and getting them ready for the bridegroom.

We miss out on so much when our hearts are not tuned in to God. He can enlighten us so very much if we will just allow Him to do so.

Another thought is that we cannot "ride to heaven on anyone else's shirt-tails". We can't get there by depending on other people to putting all of the effort in to our live style. We have to go to church, listen to the preacher, and STUDY God's Word on our own. No one else can get us into heaven. We are accountable for ourselves. Just like the Ten virgins were responsible for bringing their own lamps and oil, yet the five foolish thought that they could 'sponge' oil off the virgins who were well-prepared, and they got fooled.

Of course, I'm sure you know the rest of the parable, how the five foolish virgins knocked on the door, and told Him to let them in, but Christ told them He did not know them.

This tells me that it is imperative that we do not procrastinate when it comes to studying the Word, and developing a relationship through prayer and worship with Him. That is the only way that we will know what He expects from us, or the signs to come.

Please, I ask you to turn your life over to God, study His Word and ask Him to help you understand His Word and His commands so that we can be joined in the air together when His time arrives to be here to take us home.

Good Night to All and May God Bless