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 things in black and white only. 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 this way. We can’t allow the limitations of how we sometimes think to cloud our vision of the wonderful future that God has planned for us.
We serve and love a God with infinite ability and intelligence. Our God is limitless. He is all powerful. Jesus Christ said in Mark 10:27(NIV), “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Our Creator is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. This means that God has no beginning, and He has no end. When we let this sink in our minds for a little bit, we will realize how much God loves us, because He has created so many things for our happiness and well-being.
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 even 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 that 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 wise five bridesmaids that had oil. This was an unfruitful attempt on their part to get prepared at the last minute, and it did not work.
We think that we have so much time, because again, we take God’s gift of time for granted. We 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 this is what Jesus Christ is warning us about 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 or not 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.
Written by J Mack.© 2017. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.