Jesus would talk to us in parables to convey spiritual realities to us that are not natural for us to understand in our human way of thinking. So he would make up parables that were like picture stories. One of the things they did was impress a truth on our heart that was not easy to forget. I am going to share one of my favorite ones, it is one that actually has changed many peoples lives.
Mathew chapter 25 is the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
One thing to understand about this parable is that it talked about virgins. They were all virgins but there was only one distinction between them. They were either wise or foolish. They all had lamps but only the wise ones had the oil, which was the power to make their lamps burn. Lets think of the lamps as something that could be a “form” of religion. Just imagine if one of them had a lamp that said “Baptist” on the side of it, and one of them had a lamp that said “Pentecostal” and one had a lamp that said “Catholic”. This could be their “form of religion”.
What it boiled down to was the fact that only the wise virgins that had the oil were the ones who had the power to make their lamps burn. Another thing is that the oil was always representative of the Holy Spirit in Scripture. For example they would pour oil on the king’s head. The new testament tells us to anoint people with oil then pray for them to be healed.
What I am here to ask you is this. Do you have the power residing inside you to shine light for all the world to see? Jesus said to put your light on a stand so that everybody can see it. What good does it do us to have a lamp that can’t even give off light? It may look pretty but it has not functional value. That was one of the main things we can get from those verses. Maybe we should ask ourselves something. Why did the foolish ones not have the needed oil? What were they spending their time doing? What do we have to do to get this oil? What do we have to do to get this power to actually have this light shining so that everyone else can see? There is something about that that I think we need to know about. If they sat there and waited for many days, if they waited in Jerusalem after Jesus was taken up into heaven for the gift of the Holy Spirit. And it was an urgent thing to them, they didn’t go about doing any other business until they got that power from above. Thank you for reading.
