HOW’S YOUR FIRE PACK?
Jane’s sister told us
about having a “fire pack” by you when you sleep. A “fire pack” contains important
things you wouldn’t want to be without if you had a fire in your house and had
to get out. I was so tired the other night that
I left some of the contents of my fire pack sitting on a chair in the
living room. Had a fire occurred, I wouldn’t have been prepared. It reminded me of the Bible story of the ten virgins
with the oil lamps.
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins,
which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five
of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took
their lamps, and took no oil with them:
“But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While
the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight
there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose and trimmed
their lamps.
“And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our
lamps are gone out.
“But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough
for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and
they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
“Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open
to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say
unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the
hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matt. 25:1-13).
We learn from
this passage that each of us is responsible for
doing our own personal preparation.
We need to make up our own fire packs. The
important things in each person’s emergency pack will be different. This is true physically and spiritually.
Spiritually, each
of us will face different obstacles and challenges in life. The Bible has the
answer for each situation, and we need to search it out for ourselves. It takes a
little effort and faithfulness to get to the answers, but it’s worth it.
Having the right answer for a friend or the perfect counsel for a child is like
the wise girls in Matthew 25, who prepared ahead of time for the occasion. They
were ready.
The above parable
is about being ready when Jesus comes back. Nobody knows when that will be, but
there will be a day when Jesus returns and everything changes.
People want to
feel that their lives are meaningful and that they are contributing good into the
world. Once Jesus comes back, we don’t get the chance to do it over again. We
only have one life to live here on earth right now, no reincarnation. We need
to make every day count.
We don’t want
to miss a chance to say something kind, do something significant for someone
else. “We are all the children of light” (1 Thess. 5:5), and we can “walk
as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). “Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel” (Matt. 5:15).
Let’s make sure our fire packs have all the good and necessary stuff in
them.
The end of our
world is imminent and according to the Bible, it could be any day. Let’s make a
difference here while we can. Jesus could return any day so let’s live our
lives more like the girls who carried extra oil, rather than the ones whose
light ran out.
If we live
today as if it could be our last, it just could be our best.
Love, Carolyn
Here’s the link to some of
my books and booklets published on Amazon:
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