Give Us Oil in Our Lamps

And the foolish said to the prudent, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” Matthew 25:8

During the time of Jesus, weddings took several days. The ten virgins were guests at the wedding feast and had been waiting for the bride and bridegroom to arrive. They all became tired and fell asleep. When the bridegroom party was arriving, they woke up and trimmed their lamps.

There were 5 virgins who wisely brought oil to refill their oil lamps, but the other 5, called the foolish virgins in the parable, had to leave and buy some oil. When the bridegroom arrived, the foolish virgins were locked out of the wedding banquet.

"Lord, Lord," they said, "Open the door for us!" But he replied, "I do not know you. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."

The wedding feast is the heavenly banquet. The bridegroom is Jesus, and the bride is the Church. The virgins are you and me. The question is, are we one of the wise ones, or one of the foolish ones? Do we have extra oil with us?

There are many explanations for what the oil symbolizes. Faith? The Holy Spirit. Whatever it is, we need to be prepared for when the Lord comes at the end of our lives. 

"Stay awake and watch." The danger is really in the waiting. The parousia (an ancient Greek word meaning presence, arrival or official visit) is long delayed. Sometimes we grumble when we HAVE TO go to church, or service, or prayer meetings, or men's and women's groups as we have them in our Covenant Community.

The big danger is routine and familiarity. We lose faith, we lose our enthusiasm. We lose our desire to have a closer relationship with the One who created us, the One who loves us, the One who gives our lives meaning.

When the light of faith and enthusiasm dies out, that's when we are unprepared to meet the Lord, that's when we need oil to keep our fire burning!

Let us pray for the gift of a growing relationship with the Lord, and let us pray for the gift of gratitude!