(Based on Matthew 25:1-10)
Are you ready to meet Jesus today? The well-known hidden secret of the Bible is the day and the hour of the coming of Jesus Christ. The Bible says only the Father God will know the time. It was not even revealed to angels or Jesus. We are expected to be ready all the time looking forward to the time of Jesus’s coming. You might ask, Why is that day so important? Dear Friend, God is loving, but He is also a righteous one. Love and righteousness are the two sides of God. Out of His immense love He sent His son Jesus Christ to save us. But if we ignore His love and are unwilling to love Him back, God will one day come back to judge all of us and select only those who loved Him.
If God reveals His time of return then most of us will seek His love a few minutes before His arrival and expect Him to forgive us. God promised to forgive us whenever we seek Him. This logic gives us a pathway to a careless life and gives us a license to seek God’s love just before His coming.
You might ask another question, what if I am left on the wrong side when judged by God? What is the consequence of it? You will miss the presence of God and any life away from the presence of God will lose its meaning. Hence we need to live a watchful life and be ready to meet God all the time. Jesus is coming soon.
How do we meet Jesus?
It was two days before His crucifixion, and Jesus knew His time on earth was coming to an end. He would have to be crucified on the cross for the mistakes all of us have made in our lives. He came from Heaven to Earth for this very reason. Jesus will come back once again as a king not only for Heaven but also for the Earth to judge and rule the world. Jesus took the time to teach His disciples how to be watchful and ready to meet Him through the parable of ten virgins.
There are two ways we will meet Jesus. Either Christ will come back to meet us or we will leave this earth when we die and meet Him at the appointed place. No one could guess the time of our death. We know it will happen for sure because we all have to leave this earth sometime or the other. Whenever we meet Christ we ought to be ready.
The Parable of Ten Virgins:
Jesus explained the essence of being watchful and ready to meet Him through a parable. Ten virgins were waiting to meet the bridegroom. They are bridesmaids next in line to be married along with the bride waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. In the Jewish culture, the bridegroom will arrive without notice in the evening and will take the bride from her home to the groom’s home. The bride and bridesmaid are expected to be virgins. Five of the ten virgins were wise they took extra oil along with the lamp. But the other five only took a lamp. When the bridegroom’s arrival was delayed all the virgins started sleeping. All their lamps went out of oil. Suddenly the bridegroom arrived at an unexpected time. The five who had extra oil were able to light their lamp again. But those who did not have extra oil could not follow the bride and the bridegroom.
How to be ready?
Like the bridegroom expects his bride to be a virgin on the wedding night, God expects our hearts to be clean and washed in the blood of Jesus when He meets us. Like the light the virgins carried, our light should burn brighter in our lives to show and reflect the glory of Jesus. People should see the light and come to know God. The light is not meant to show who we are but to reflect who God is. The fuel for that light had to be always centered around the love for Jesus.
Dear friend, is your life centered around who you are and what you have achieved? Well, there is nothing wrong. But God will measure us based on what we have done for Him and His glory. He will measure our light based on the reason and purpose of its existence. We might do so many things for His glory. But is our action fueled by the love for Him or to make some personal gain for us? God knows our heart and he alone can judge us. Every one of us will stand before Him one day to be judged by Him.
Dear friend, are you ready to meet Christ? He is not going to tell us when He will come. But we all know we are going to meet him one day. The appointment date was always there. It’s just not revealed. We are expected to be watchful in our lives, make the right choices, and live our lives carefully till we meet Him. If you are not ready and if your life is not fueled by the oil of His wonderful love it’s time you (re)commit your life right now. Jesus wants to forgive all your past. Let’s be wise. He wants to change your life and he will make you ready. Are you willing to accept Him and live a new life? Would you start praying with us right now?
Dear God, I want to be ready when I meet you. Forgive my past and let me live my life for your glory. Let my life’s light shine and show your glory. I lived a selfish life in the past. From now onward I want to live for you. Let me magnify you through my life. Help me to be watchful and careful in the daily choices I make. Let me make those choices in consultation with you. Lead me from now onward. Change my life and help me to be prepared for your coming. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.
We are so glad you were able to make a choice to follow Christ. We are praying for you. May God bless you.