“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took
their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and
five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with
them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was
delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry,
‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and
trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your
oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there
will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for
yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those
who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he
answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you
know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)
My main testimony
this morning is about what has happened over 32+ years as I have “watched” for
what stands out to me from God’s word each day. I am sure I was doing this
before May of 1992, but that is when it “stood out to me” to pay attention to
whatever “stood out to me” in my daily time with God 😊.
An…y…way…!
For these few
decades, I have consciously received what stands out to me as the teaching and
reminding ministry of the Holy Spirit drawing my attention to what Father has
on his heart for me. It has been amazing how personal it is that the Triune God
first gives me the treasures of wisdom and knowledge from their word that I
know are the bull’s eye of God’s will for me each day, but I am constantly
discovering how precisely this addresses things that happen to me during the
course of the day, and on into the week ahead.
What I really want
to pass on to whoever reads this is that the flow of thought in Jesus’
discourse with his disciples is NOT about how we must study the details of Jesus’
second coming so we know when it is time. The theme is that we must be certain
of the kinds of things that will happen in the world between his first and
second comings so we won’t be alarmed when terrible things take place, and then
get back to work.
Yes, if all we know
about “end times prophecy” is that Jesus could come at any time and every
prophecy about him would be fulfilled whether anyone made the connections or
not, then we must be “the faithful and wise servant” who is doing what Paul
summarized as, “Pursue love (of the agapè variety[1]),
and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts” (I Corinthians 14:1).
Today’s Scripture
took me from the “faithful AND wise” focus to the warning of the “foolish OR
wise” contrast. It has really stood out how often I have had to bite my tongue
the last while as I have been learning to be wise enough to NOT say the first
things that come into my head! A sore tongue is a good (and humbling) reminder
that wisdom is known as much by what it does not do or say as what it does do
or say!
At the same time,
it has been very rewarding to see the blessing of speaking to others out of
faithfulness and wisdom. And since I still have so much not-yet-like-Jesusness
in me, I will be pursuing whatever measure of faithfulness and wisdom the
Spirit of God teaches me today!
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)
[1]
It is so important to know
that the “love” God commands us to pursue is NOT friendship love, NOT family love,
NOT romantic love, but “agapè” love, which means God’s love. We are to pursue
love-relationship with God that leads us to love others (friends, family,
spouses, AND ENEMIES included) as Jesus loved us from the cross.
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