Shut Door

Matthew 25: “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 keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

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“Where did I put my keys?” I asked myself frantically. It seemed like it took forever to find them! I sped off only to hit some unanticipated traffic near the parking lot. One novice in front of me could not figure out how to simply get the ticket to enter the lot. “Come on!” I screamed in my car. I ran to the gate only to see them shut the door of the plane. My boss was on that plane.

• There have been times I was not prepared.
• There have been days when I made costly mistake with my time.
• There have been situations that I did not anticipate and found out I was left behind.

Preparing for the next day got introduced to me the hard way when I missed that plane, but what about preparing for the “next life?” JESUS tells a story that implies HIS return would take a long time and many would “fall asleep” instead of being prepared.

• GOD wants me to be prepared to tell people about HIS SON on a daily basis.
• GOD wants me to be prepared to die and see HIS face every day.
• GOD wants me to be prepared for JESUS to return so I need to serve people on a daily basis.

“I will serve GOD after I ” is a crazy thought. I will never have enough money, time or health to serve GOD, so why not do it now! GOD wants me when I am busy, distracted and worried. HE wants me to see life’s delays as opportunities to pray for those around me. I should always be prepared!

• Are you prepared to see GOD today?
• Are you prepared to answer questions about JESUS if someone asked you about your relationship with HIM?
• Are you prepared to die and live an eternal life with, or worse, without GOD?