The Tales Of Jesus - 1 - The Ten Virgins And Their Lamps

Today we will be continuing with our tales of Jesus series, looking at the parables that Jesus told and what they can teach us today. Last week we saw how the parable of the sheep and goats taught us that our decisions and who we decide to follow and stay close to can have a massive impact on our future.

Today we are going to be thinking about being prepared, and looking at the parable of ten virgins.

We are going to see who is the most alert and ready with the best reactions.

Part of having fast reactions is maintaining focus, concentration and readiness for the task that you are going to complete. It is very likely that those who caught the string faster were concentrating harder, and were more prepared and ready than those who caught it later (or not at all). The parable that we are going to look at today speaks of the importance of being prepared and ready, Matthew 25 : 1 - 13.

Parables are stories that carry a meaning that is much deeper than the basic story line. Brides sitting around with oil lamps might seem a bit odd to us with all of the technology that we have today. We take something as simple as a lightbulb, and the ability to produce light at the flick of a switch for granted. But this wasn’t the case for the people that Jesus was speaking to.

Despite the storyline seeming a bit unusual to us today, the message behind the story is just as relevant now as it was at the time he told it. It highlights the importance of being prepared and how this can allow us not to be caught out by unexpected changes or disappointments.

What we are going to do now is re-create this parable using a modern example. You have 10 minutes to prepare a short video that will share the same message but using a modern storyline.

So being prepared for different situations we may face in life is one thing, but there is more to this parable than that. This tale is also telling us about how we need to have the same level of preparation and readiness in our spiritual lives as well.

We need to be ready and prepared for God to bring about change on the Earth. Just before parable we looked at Jesus talks about how the actions of God cannot be predicted and his plans are only known by God himself.

Even the angels in heaven and Jesus himself does not know God’s full plan, as we can see in Matthew 24 : 35 - 44.

This might seem like a grim and scary proposition, this is after all a glimpse into the end of the world. We see here that Jesus is saying that God may choose to act at any moment, bringing life as we know it to an end. What’s more when he acts, he will do so in an instant with no prior warning and with no way of predicting when this moment will be.

Jesus isn’t telling us this to scare us, or keep us up at night with one eye open wondering whether this is it. Instead he is trying to give us a sense of urgency, to try and encourage us to make every moment count.

Just imagine that a siren like this sounded for real and you had just seen on the news that we were at nuclear war. The reporter then says that the missiles are heading towards the UK, impact is expected within minutes and authorities are not expecting any survivors.

If that was to happen right now would there be any things that you wish you could have done? Would there be things you would have wanted to say to someone? Is there anything you would have done differently if you knew that today was going to be your last?

This is the sort of urgency that God wants us to live by throughout our lives, as our time on this planet is short. Just like an impending missile might prompt us to tell someone we love them, or make peace with someone, or make peace with God, this is how God wants us to act right now.

If there is something that you could do today, if there is someone you could talk about Jesus with today, if there is a simple act of kindness that you could offer today, do it today! Why wait until tomorrow?

The key point of this message isn’t about fearing the impending doom, but is about taking the opportunity to make every moment of our lives count. Using every second to make an impact, but also making sure that we are prepared and equipped for what is ahead of us, which we will think about briefly now.

Let’s imagine that we could carry everything we need to be a well-prepared follower of Jesus could fit into a ruck. What things do you think we would need to put in there?

So today though the parable of the ten virgins and their lamps we have learn about the importance making preparedness a priority in our lives. Let’s close in prayer.

Lord Jesus,

We thank you that you love each one of us so much, and have so many great plans for our lives.

Please help us to make the most of every moment, give us the energy, emphasis and passion to always be ready to respond and go the way that you want to lead us.

Help us have wisdom on how we should spend our time, and how we can prepare and equip ourselves to live the greatest possible life.

We thank you for the parable of the ten virgins and their lamps. Help us be like the wise women, who ensured that they were properly equipped for the challenges that they faced.

Amen