What would you do?

“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 ones, 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 you and us. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were going 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. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore, keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)



Recently, a newly married couple was leaving the church to go to their reception when their vehicle was hit – they were killed. A husband and wife went for a walk in a BC forest with their dog and were attacked by a Grizzly bear – the couple and their dog were killed. A couple of teens were playing basketball in the park when they were meaninglessly sprayed with gunfire – three teens died. A Ukrainian family was celebrating their birthday when rockets hit their home, killing all occupants. Families were going about their day in the Middle East when rockets were fired, and people on both sides of a border were killed.  An 11-year-old girl was walking to the store and was killed in the crossfire between two rival street gangs. When all those people got out of bed that morning, none expected their day to end as it did. 

There is a powerful statement made in verse 10 of the parable; it says the door was shut. There is a finality in that statement. When that time comes, there is nothing more that can be done about sin; there is nothing more that can be done about life because the door has been shut. Like the foolish virgins, you can not depend on another’s grace to enter the door. Five of them went out, five of them went in, five of them had no oil, and five of them had oil when they needed it. Jesus’ parable reminds us that none of us knows the day or the hour of the coming of the Lord or the day of our demise and so it is not only important to have a lamp, but it is also essential to get it burning. It is important to keep it burning until the bridegroom arrives. While we wait, we can enjoy the blessings of God’s creation, but we must also live our lives acknowledging God’s grace and mercy. 

What would you do today if you knew tomorrow would be your last day? Would you try to bring your relationship with God up to date? Would you kneel, praising God and thanking Him for His forgiveness? If you knew that tomorrow was the last day, would you focus on things of eternal value? Would you do the work of the evangelist. You would want to see those friends and neighbours, family members who don’t know Jesus know of the Kingdom, and so would share the gospel message of Christ. 

None of us know when our last day will be. None of us are beyond the potential of falling into the traps of the world’s system. That is why Jesus Christ left us this parable to warn us. Live your faith as if you would soon be called to stand before the Lord and give an account of yourself.  If you think you are in your comfort zone today, please know there is no such thing in the Spiritual realm. We don’t reach a point where we say, “I got eternity covered”. We have an adversary, the devil, constantly looking to put out our light. An adversary who goes around like a roaring lion seeking who he can devour. (1 Peter 5:8).  We need to be constantly looking to see how much oil is in our lamps. Daily, our minds and hearts must be turned towards God. We must not only acknowledge our dependence on Him but act as if we depended on Him. 

The theme song to the disaster movie Poseidon Adventure cried, “There’s got to be a morning after”.  But what if there are not any more tomorrow for you? Why not do today what you think you would do tomorrow if you knew it would be your last?