2Corinthians 5:7(NIV) tells us, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” Some of us live by sight, and not by faith. We think in a very linear way, seeing only what is in front of us, and seeing only things in black and white. Our mind measures things with a beginning point and an end point; and we get a little nervous about what is in between. As Christians, we can’t think and operate this way, because doing so demolishes hope and puts a cap on expectations. We can’t allow the limitations of how we sometimes think to cloud our vision of the wonderful future God has planned for us.
In Mark 10, Jesus Christ spoke with a wealthy man that had a very limited mindset. He was consumed with things he had acquired with money. He had great possessions, and the man loved his possessions more than he did his own soul. When this man ran and kneeled to Jesus and asked what he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus Christ told him that he should sell his possessions and give them to the poor. After hearing this, the man went away very grieved. Why, you might ask, because he could not see beyond the stuff he owned.
After this incident, Jesus Christ taught his disciples about how challenging it is for someone with this man’s heart-and mindset to enter the Kingdom of God. He said that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter its gates. The disciples were astonished at the words Jesus spoke, and they said among themselves, “Goodness, who in the world will make it into the Kingdom then? Surely it is too difficult, because all of us like our stuff.” Hearing them talk, Jesus said in Mark 10:27(NIV), “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." There is no circumstance in which God cannot move and change. We serve and love a God with infinite ability and intelligence. He is limitless.
Our Creator is all powerful and all-knowing. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. When we let this sink in our minds for a little bit, we will realize that it is impossible to get to the end of God’s love; it’s just that overwhelming. Our minds cannot totally process the bigness of God, because He is too magnificent for words, and His love never ends. He created us to love us, and He has created all that we see for our well-being and spiritual good.
Our Heavenly Father does not need the element of time. He constructed the element of time and its measurements for our benefit. He even created the earth in such a way that we could measure time without having instruments of any kind. We can use the seasons, the change in weather patterns, and the differences between day and night to mark time. He thought of every single detail and wove them into His creation. All of this He has done for His children.
Our problem is that sometimes we look at the magnificence of all that God has done for us, and we will often take His blessing of time for granted. There is a good example of this in one of the parables Jesus Christ used to describe the Kingdom of Heaven. In Matthew 25:1, he said it is like ten bridesmaids that took their lamps to meet the groom. Marriage ceremonies throughout biblical history were a very important celebration. Traditions were staunchly kept, and the brides or bridesmaids took great care to make sure they were well prepared for their grooms.
The lamps in this parable suggest to us a certain degree of preparation. The bridesmaids were going to meet the groom, and lamps, along with the oil for them, would be necessary. They needed lamps to meet the groom because he would be arriving later than expected, at an hour in the night when the bridesmaids would need to wake up and be prepared to meet him.
Matthew 25:3(NLT) tells us, “The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps.” In many ways these five foolish bridesmaids are like some of us. We know that God has given us the element of time as a gift. It is not so that we can use it to sin more, and to do things that have nothing to do with the reason why God created us. It is so that we will build our relationship with God, become more like Christ, and capture our destinies.
Ephesians 1:11 (NLT) tells us, “Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.” We were predestined before the foundation of the world to be God’s children, and we are to orchestrate our lives to the harmonies of His divine plan, because His plan is the absolute best.
Five of the bridesmaids in the parable were prepared because they traveled with enough oil in their lamps. The other five bridesmaids were not prepared, and when the bridegroom came, they tried to borrow oil from the five wise bridesmaids. This was an unfruitful attempt on their part to get prepared at the last minute, and it did not work.
Most of us think that we have lots of time to do anything we please. We take God’s gift of time for granted and do not use it to grow in God’s love, strength, nature, and power. We use it to further our own agendas. This can be a dangerous path, and it is what Jesus Christ is warning us about in the parable in Matthew 25. Born again believers are the body of Christ. He is our bridegroom, and we are his bride. He is coming back for his bride, and the question is whether we will be ready with oil in our lamps when he comes.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
“Is There Oil In Your Lamp?” written for victoryinjesuschrist.life. Copyright© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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