Fun Fact: Every time I hear the phrase, “Be prepared”, I sing it back to myself in Scar’s voice.
I attribute this to being a 90s kid who had a very love/hate relationship with The Lion King (okay fine, mostly only love… I just cannot – to this day – watch that movie without bawling).
Ironically, and likely not very surprisingly, I’m taking a quick break from packing my bags to write this devo… hours before I head over to Pearson Airport for two weeks in Finland!
Am I prepared for my vacation? Nope! Not yet…
Does that mean I shouldn’t write a devotion about being prepared?
Perhaps… maybe not necessarily though.
Unlike Scar, Jesus has always been a favorite character of mine. Another characteristic of growing up in an Evangelical home in the early 90s is that I grew up watching videos (VHS videos, not YouTube ones) of the parables of Jesus. All sorts of adaptations of the stories of Jesus’ life and ministry. One that always struck me was the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
“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 ones, 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. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
(Matthew 25:1-13)
It’s certainly one of the more ominous examples of what the Kingdom of Heaven will be like, but there are so many powerful lessons to be learned!
If I’m being completely honest, I often feel like one of those foolish virgins who didn’t have enough oil for their lamps. Most of the time I feel like I’m running around town buying oil instead of waiting ready.
There is so much more to be learned from this passage than there is space for in one little devotional, but the thought I’d love to leave you with is found in verse 9. The response of the wise virgins.
It used to seem so selfish to me as a child!
HOW could they not share with those poor, foolish virgins?
But I’m beginning to see the wisdom of those first five virgins. Sometimes, we really do need to take care of our own needs first before we can help others. And sometimes there are simply things that cannot be shared!
In the end, no matter how many or how few resources we have access to, no matter how many or how few Discipleship lessons we have read or discussed with others, each of us must prepare for ourselves.
We get to choose how we will prepare, if we’ll prepare alongside of others, when and how we choose to invest in our preparations.
I’m learning to see this as a beautiful invitation to continued growth… I am certainly not always prepared for the things that need to be done in my life. And I’m no expert at waiting patiently for the Lord Jesus to be revealed in His fullness at the end of times.
But I am pleased to share this wildly mysterious journey with others. To learn together and to pray together is such a blessing and I’m hopeful that this is something we can continue to grow in together at Lifespring!