"At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.
The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'
'No,' they replied, ' there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
Later the others also came. '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."
We have counted the cost and found Him, our Jesus, to be worthy. Our prayer is that He would make us ready, and that more and more people would come to see how worthy He is.
The oil is His spirit, the cost is our time. The main thing is... we have to buy now, not later. Not tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year. Now is the time to immerse ourselves in the depths of God, in His WORD and in following Him along the narrow path.
The thing about a lover is that they want us to themselves, with no one else around. It really is time to know Jesus in the secret places. Quiet down your life, spent time.... hours if needed. Know the Bible for yourself and not just from what you've heard. Spend yourself and buy Him! He is WORTH every sacrifice and every lonely hour. He is worth it, and we are buying oil. Plus, the handy thing is~ a) Time with Him will make us more pleasant to be around b) Time with Him will make us better lovers of people who don't deserve it, but who really, really need it.
I know it sounds weird, but when we spend time with Him, we become more like Him! I know, crazy!!!
So... time to stop being satisfied with just listening to sermons about it, reading about it, going to conferences so we can be encouraged to do it, it's time to stop just talking about it, singing about it, blogging about it.... it's time to DO it!!!!
So, go get your own oil.... you can't have mine! : )
~Jill
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