Matthew 25:1-13 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' Then all those virgins arose 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, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
As we conclude the final day of Chanukah, I want to focus on this parable. This parable in Matthew 25 is a warning to the entire body -- be ready with your oil! Each of these virgins was anticipating the Lord's return; none were atheists, or non-believers. They were all virgins who claimed to be awaiting the Bridegroom's arrival. But notice carefully that only half of them were truly ready.
In the ancient Temple era the Aaronic priests were in charge of lighting the lamp of God and keeping it burning. Their main responsibilities included trimming the wicks, refilling the lamp constantly with fresh oil, and making sure it never burned out.
A clear parallel can be drawn between the Aaronic priesthood and the New Covenant priesthood of Melchizedek and Yeshua (Jesus). Both are responsible to keep the lamps burning!
Are you feeling burned out this Chanukah season? Then trim your wick by getting rid of the useless things in your life and diving deeper into His Word. Are you feeling spiritually drained? Then wait on the Lord and ask Him for a fresh anointing. Bearing the light of God is the responsibility of all true believers; you are the bearer of that light; so be reignited today and keep your lamps burning bright for Him. Let's be wise virgins, anxiously awaiting His return!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]When Elijah went up to to heaven, Elisha took up his mantle and walked in the power of Elijah. The Hebrew word for mantle is "aderet". It's root word is "adir", which means excellent, gallant, glorious, mighty, noble and worthy! Elijah was a man with these qualities. The mantle that Elisha received from Elijah meant a calling which was powerful. Elisha had earned it. When the two first met, Elisha had slaughtered the oxen he was plowing with, and burned them on the wood of their yoke as an offering. Then he followed and served the prophet until the day Elijah was taken miraculously to Heaven.
One of the paradoxes of our walk is that God’s gifts often require work on our part. After He delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians, the Lord led them to the Promised land and told them He was going to "give" it to them. It wasn't long before they realized, however, that they were going to have to fight battles and overcome fortified cities in order to inhabit the land. God did promise that they would not have to fight the battles on their own, but even with this divine advantage the Israelites themselves would be required to destroy their enemies – they would still need to fight.
A good pastor friend of ours told us that his congregation was experiencing some hardships and division. How often does this happen among us? It breaks my heart -- and I believe the Lord weeps over this too.
I came across an old article about "fake physicians". According to this article, many American citizens could be receiving medical treatment from doctors who lied on their medical school loan applications and used the money to pay a broker for fake documents. One guy was arrested and later admitted that he was paid beaucoup bucks to hand out approximately a hundred phony medical documents claiming that his clients completed their training! Can you imagine?!
I came across a powerful parable written by a Haitian pastor illustrating to his congregation the need for total commitment to the Lord.
We arrived at the airport late Thursday night with our bags and our kiddos only to find out that our flight was canceled because of a freak accident -- a tractor ran into the plane, of all things! So we repacked our ourselves tightly into a small rental car to make the two hour drive to get back home to Arad in the middle of the night. Our flight was postponed till Sunday.
There is a tale told of that great English actor Macready. An eminent preacher once said to him: "I wish you would explain to me something."