Date: Thursday, 16th January, 2025
Text: Matthew 25:1-13
Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan
Exhortation:
Any believer who is serious about making it to Heaven must pay attention to the Lord’s teaching on the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
In this story, the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to ten virgins who went for a wedding and were preparing to meet the bridegroom. In those days, young maidens were appointed as part of the bridal train in solidarity with their friend, the Bride, to meet the Bridegroom.
Activities usually drag late in to the night and so each of the virgins was supposed to come with their individual lamps. Five of them were said to be foolish because they took their lamps but did not take any extra oil with them; and the other five were said to be wise because they took containers full of oil for their lamps.
The Bridegroom was late in coming, so they began to nod and fall asleep. When the Groom eventually arrived at midnight the ten virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish ones were running out of oil. Then the foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Let us have some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’‘No, indeed,’ the wise ones answered, ‘there is not enough for you and for us. Go to the store and buy some for yourselves.’
So the foolish ones went off to buy some oil; and while they were gone, the bridegroom arrived. The five who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was closed- Matthew 25:1-10
There are many symbols in the story and we have to decode them to understand the meaning.
Firstly, the Bridegroom is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Isaiah54:5 says, “For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.”
Again the word of God says, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Ephesians 5:22-23, 25
Straight away we can safely conclude that Jesus Christ is the expected Groom and the Church is the Bride and the Ten Virgins.
Our Lord Jesus will definitely return back to take his Bride with him through the Rapture-John 14:1-3; Acts 1:1-11. Will you be ready for the Lord’s return? Repent from all sins today and surrender your heart to the Lord t and you too will be among the Bride of Christ ready to be permanently married to your Maker and Lover of your soul.
Prayer Nugget: Lord Jesus, I thank you for shedding your precious blood and giving your life for me. I will forever love and obey you.
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