Wednesday

They Won't Share



The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

Even as a child this parable seemed clear to me. Jesus is the expected but seemingly late bridegroom. The ten virgins are Christians preparing and waiting for His Second Coming.

Five were actually prepared and expectant. Five were foolish. As the bridegroom delayed His coming, some of them became drowsy. Stopped watching for Him and fell asleep!

Suddenly the bridegroom comes. The unprepared ones can’t go forth to meet Him. Their lights have gone out! They don’t have oil for their lamps.

They desperately attempt to borrow some from the others who have extra oil. However, they won’t share!

As a child I remember feeling sorry for these foolish ones. And it really bothered me that these supposedly wise virgins were too selfish to share their oil!

If they won’t share, how wise is that? I know, they said there wasn’t enough oil to go around. Ok, but they can still fix this problem, can’t they? Why not offer to share their light, walk out together to meet the bridegroom!

Only later, I understood. There are some things that simply cannot be borrowed or shared. A prepared character is one such thing!

If you’ve been paying attention to the Teacher and I haven’t, I won’t be able to borrow the oil of your prepared heart! A watchful, prepared Christian character is not something others can provide for us.

'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

1 comment:

  1. Humbling and sad...

    I remember wondering the same sort of thing - why wouldn't they share?

    You are right on when you wrote: "There are some things that simply cannot be borrowed or shared. A prepared character is one such thing!"

    And sadly as I think of some friends around me who may be asleep... I asked myself when the last time I attempted to wake them up was.

    Maybe like our parents in church services when we were young, a small elbow, nudge, or tap on the shoulder could benefit some friends around us.

    ReplyDelete