Mathew 25:1The kingdom of heaven is like what happened one night when ten young women took their oil lamps and went to a wedding to meet the groom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps, but no extra oil. The ones who were wise took along extra oil for their lamps. The groom was late arriving, and the young women became drowsy and fell asleep. Then in the middle of the night someone shouted, “Here's the groom! Come to meet him!”
When the women got up and started getting their lamps ready, the foolish ones said to the others, “Let us have some of your oil! Our lamps are going out.” Those who were wise answered, “There's not enough oil for all of us! Go and buy some for yourselves.” While the foolish ones were on their way to get some oil, the groom arrived.
The five who were ready went into the wedding, and the doors were closed. 11 Later the others returned and shouted, “Sir, sir! Open the door for us!” But the groom replied, “I don't even know you!” So, my disciples, always be ready! You don't know the day or the time when all this will happen.
The story of the five wise women is written in the Bible to teach us the principle of preparedness and wisdom for the sake of the kingdom of God.
It is represented as five very wise women waiting for their groom to arrive so that they can attend the wedding in which they are delighted to attend. Their desire and diligence governed their attitude of the heart and hence they were vigilant in their actions.
They made their lamps full of oil and also make sure they have reserves in case the bride groom is late. On the other hand, there were also other five foolish women who were not ready for the coming of the groom which ultimately disqualifies them from attending the wedding. There are two very important concepts we need to learn from this
1. Vigilance/preparedness
2. Wisdom
The greatest treasure we have in life is Holy Spirit. It is very important to know that the only requirement to be in the presence of God is carrying his spirit in us whom he has provided without measure. Holy Spirit is the most valuable thing we need and must have in order to attend the big wedding, which is the second coming of Christ.
It is also very important to know that we should safe guard this precious gift with all we have from the thief so that we can inheritance to the kingdom of God Many have received this marvelous gift which is represented as the oil in the lamp in the above story and some how lost it in the difficulties and trials of life. Many believed it is impossible to lose Holy Spirit once received, but I would say Holy Spirit like the other two parts of Holy divinity of God, has feelings and emotions that can be grieved.
Ephesians 4:30:“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
It is indicated in the above scripture that grieving the Holy Spirit is a sin and is committed when we are not living life by loving others and when we disob
y God. It occurs:
When we hate others and become bitter fueled with anger
When we complain too much with little things
When we grumble and judge others
When we fight with each other and gossip
When we lie, steal and murder
The list goes on and on, but the idea is Holy Spirt will be saddened and ultimately leave us if we don’t stop doing the above.We al
know what happ
ned to King Saul. The bible tells us that Holy Spirit lift him, and the evil spirt came to make his life miserable.
Laziness from doing what we supposed to do in time is sin and it leads to death. This could be refraining from doing little things like kneeling for 5 minutes to pray and praise God for his blessings, but it has great implication in the overall life of a Christian. I believe there is no difference in the eyes of God among the different kinds of sins since they all have deadly consequences.
Wisdom is the tool that preserves and maintains our life from going to destruction. It is one thing to be prepared but it is another thing to safe guard what we have inside for the long run which can only be accomplished by using wisdom.
The five wise women not only have extra oil but also have wisdom. They refused to share their oil to the other five foolish women who completely forgot they may need extra oil in case the groom is late.
They did so because they believed if they had shared their oil, they wouldn’t have had enough for all of them and they will all miss the wedding. 5 is better than nothing.
Simply speaking wisdom is making decisions now that have great implications on the final result. How many of us are protecting what we love most with wisdom? It we don’t, the devil will have every opportunity to snatch it from us while we are sleeping.
What a tragic story it is when we see what happened for the five foolish women. They thought the did all it takes to attend the wedding. Probably they also put on their best clothing. They waited the groom until it arrives. The did everything they could except they run out of oil. But the other wise women anticipated this might happen and prepared for the occasion.
The good news is God already gave us wisdom when He gave us his Spirit as the Spirit of God is the spirit of wisdom and understanding. All we have to do is listen when whispers in our ears telling us what to do in every difficult situation.
Isaiah 11:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, [that is] the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge and the Fear of the Lord."