Be Ready

 Luke 12:40

You too, be continually ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

 

Be ready! The word of Jesus to His disciples. Two questions; ready for what, and how to be ready? The owner of the home was unprepared when a thief came into his house in the night. The owner most likely was asleep or preoccupied with the cares of life. Maybe he failed to lock his doors, or set his alarm. Most likely if he would have known that an intruder was going to break into his home that night, he would have made sure that his house was secure and possibly armed himself for protection. Jesus said, like this unsuspected thief, His return to the earth will be without knowing the time and day He would return. But, He made it clear that He would return and told them to be ready. What does it mean to be ready? Jesus says, those that are ready will have their lamps filled with oil. The oil represents the Holy Spirit. As we are occupied with the work that God has called us to do, we are to be diligent and live our lives as if He would return today.  Like the foolish virgins without the oil, there may not be time to get ready. Let’s keep our lamps filled and trimmed, to be continually ready for His return!

Watch and Be Ready

Mat 25:12 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

If we knew that Jesus (The bridegroom), were to return today, how would that change the way we live? What preparation have we made in our spiritual lives to be ready for His coming? Do we have the oil of the Holy Spirit to keep our light burning for the Lord?  The warning is given to us by Jesus. Don’t get caught up in the things of this world. Don’t allow life to make you complacent with the things that are eternal. We can’t allow the cutting edge of our spiritual life to become dull. It is possible to lose the pearl of great price and miss eternity. We must keep our eyes on Jesus and always be ready. We know not when He will return, but return He will. There will be no time to get ready, we need to be ready!

She Poured Out The Oil

2 kings 4:5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.

The insights to this passage of scripture has many applications to life. Our dependance on God to supply our needs, Faith to believe that God can do the impossible. Prayer and petitioning God to grant the desires of our heart. The oil being symbolic of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God wants to pour out His Spirit on us until we are full of love and grace. The Holy Spirt is able to set us free from being sold into the bondage of sin. To some, this is just a story of a women who was down to her last penny, and some how a miracle happen and she was able to continue on with life with her two sons. We seek for hidden messages in the stories of old, and to what purpose they have been reserves to this day is the answer we seek. God used stories like these to help us realize that life happens and we might find ourselves someday like the widow and her pot of oil. What will we do? Will we continue to believe God in spite of the circumstance? Will we have enough oil, that God can use it to continue to feed our soul? Is our vessel full and ready to be used for God?

A Lamp with Oil

Matt 25:3 “They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them”

A lamp without oil is useless. Religion without the presence of God is also useless. Being ready for the returning bridegroom is more than having a form of religion. Professing to be a Christian goes beyond the dressing of going to church or being raised to believe certain truths. The wise that have their lamps filled with oil are those who have trusted Christ for salvation and depend on the merit of the blood of Jesus to cleanse their heart from all unrighteousness. Being ready is to have your vessel (your heart) filled with God’s love and living in His presence in every situation and circumstance we find ourselves in. A lamp filled with oil is to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts, leading us in our daily walk with God. “Fill my lamp Lord, and help me never to be without”.