Be Prepared
I’ve been sitting out in the woods again recently, watching and waiting. This is something I do regularly, and I know what to expect. Still, that doesn’t mean I was ready. Yesterday, I didn’t wear two pairs of pants like I sometimes do. The ones I did have on were too thin. My gloves were also too thin. I didn’t have any handwarmers, and trembling with my hands in a ball was not working for me. All I had to do was keep watching, but I couldn’t do it. I had done the I-don’t-have-to-be-prepared-this-will-be-easy thing.
Sometimes, “How hard will it really be?” is the wrong question. Sometimes, “Have I done what I need to do to be prepared for this moment?” is what we should be asking.
Matthew 25: 1-13 talks about ten virgins waiting for the Bridegroom. In Jewish tradition, the groom would make an arrangement with the father, and then, once the price had been paid for the bride, he’d go back to his father’s house to prepare a place for his bride so he could come and get her to take her with him. Does that sound like John 14? Jesus told us what His side of these preparations will look like.
The parable of the ten virgins is what our end of the deal looks like.
““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.””
As I’m reading and listening to Rob preach about Revelation and watching missiles fly into Poland, I’m realizing things can happen faster than we think. If you’d have asked my naïve self three years ago, will any of this happen soon, I’d have said no way.
I’d have been thinking one of two things: 1) I’m prepared enough, or 2) I’ve got plenty of time.
But things are changing quickly, and I don’t want to be caught unprepared like I was in up in the tree this week, cold and wishing I’d have taken the weather seriously.
I’d rather be ready. And while I have time, I want to encourage others to get ready.
Christmas is coming. That means some of these seeds can be planted here in the next month or two. Part of me being prepared is helping others prepare. Here’s my plan: I will listen to God’s voice and—as I enjoy encounters and time spent with loved ones—be ready to speak. Maybe they’ll have questions. Maybe not. But I don’t know anyone who looks around at the world right now and feels great about it. Things can escalate quickly, and we need to not be naïve. The ten virgins knew what they needed to do, in theory. They knew the tradition. But when it came down to it, half had a clue and half didn’t. Let’s be prepared and help others be prepared.
There’s no guarantee there’ll be time to turn to God at the last second. For the half that weren’t prepared, the door was shut. Period.
Let’s look forward to the return of Jesus with readiness. And with a big crowd of our family and friends surrounding us.
“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”
