Ready or Not

“So stay awake and be prepared, because you do not know the day or hour of my return.” Matt 25:13. We have all played he childhood game, Hide-and-Seek, where one person close his or her eyes while the others hide. My favorite part of the game comes after you count to 20 and get yell, “Ready or Not, here I come.”

In a sense, that is what Jesus is saying in the parable of the 10 Bridesmaids: “Ready or not, here I come” in this parable, Jesus compares His second coming to 10 bridesmaids who “took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom’ Matthew 25:1. Five of the bridesmaid had oil in their lamps and were ready. The other five had no oil in their lamps and weren't prepared to meet the bridegroom. The five unprepared bridesmaids went to buy oil at the last minute; the bridegroom appeared and took everyone who was ready in with him to the marriage feast. Suddenly, the five unprepared bridesmaids found themselves locked out and saying, Sir, open the door for us!” (v.11). But the bridegroom could only reply, “I don’t know you!” (v.12).