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Being Ready

by a young lady

 
Being Ready - being prepared for the most important event

 
You also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Luke 12:40 (NIV)

If you have ever been in the car with me you know that I 'used' to drive fast and hard. I decided a few years back that I was going to become a Christian driver, which involved me sticking to speed limits, no road rage, no tail gate-ing, etc.

None of this though compares to my regular driving habit of running out of petrol; it is a regular occurrence. I love my car, a V8 Hyundai Accent. One of my most unforgettable times is running out of petrol twice in one day. I had planned for weeks to go on the Pathfinder Expedition with my friend; I was driving from Avondale College down to Lithgow.

My friend and I had organised who was going to bring what for the camp, we had set the time and meeting place. I was pulling out of college and my car stopped, I hadn't even been able to get out of the car park. The NRMA came after I tried to fix the problem myself but I needed my fuel tank flushed because I had run it to dirt. The NRMA man put in my car $5 worth of petrol to get me to a petrol station that was just around the corner from college.

This process took longer and was making me late for meeting my friend. I went around the corner and put an extra $20s worth in my car, hoping that that would get me to the camp. My friend laughed when she finally got into my car and we were off to camp. We hadn't been driving long when my petrol light started to flicker, and I just ignored it. When the light came on I looked at the light and said to myself, oh its alright I can do at least 50km on my tank with the light on.

I kept driving on! Until I realised that I was getting close to really running out of petrol. My friend had noticed that I was not talking as much and instead of looking at the road my eyes were glued to the fuel tank light. She realised why and I had to confess that we were on empty again. She then went quiet too. As we were going down a hill I noticed that my car was just now rolling, the car engine had stopped!

Read Matthew 25:1-13

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish and five were wise.  The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.  The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.  The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' '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.'

"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.

"Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."

From reading this we know that 5 virgins were Wise and 5 virgins were Foolish! Notice the similarities between the wise and foolish:

1.  All 10 were dressed in white robes
2.  All 10 were virgins… pure, faith, life
3.  All 10 waited for Christ to come. Knew it was near
4.  All 10 were ready for His coming at one point
5.  All 10 had slept soundly
6.  All 10 had to be awakened with a shout
7.  All 10 were taken by surprise
8.  All 10 lamps needed trimming and filling

Now with the many similarities, there's very little difference between the 5 foolish and the 5 wise! They all seemed ready. If there had been no delay they all would have gone inside because they all had lights at one time. But there was a delay. That's what makes the crucial difference. Filling my car up with petrol once doesn't mean that it will stay full. I have to keep filling up the car if I want to keep driving.  This reminds us of our spiritual life with God. If we let our candle dim down and burn out, if we lose sight of God then we too will be forgotten when he comes back for us. We need to keep our lamps full of oil.

I was lucky when my car ran out of petrol on the hill, there was a petrol station at the bottom of the hill and my car cruised down the hill and stopped right near the bowser for me to fill the car up. Our spiritual journey is not so simple. We cannot guarantee that the timing will be right and that God will come when we are ready. Just like in Luke 12:40 - we do not know the day or the hour of Christ's return. So what do you need to do to be ready? How bright is your light shining? Do you have enough oil reserved to keep it burning bright?

How can we achieve this? By prayer, asking God to keep us focused on the Prize ahead, asking him to help us in our spiritual journey.

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