“Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be like 10 virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 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 slept. And at midnight there was a cry made: ‘Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go out to meet Him.’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said unto the wise, give us of our oil; for our lamps are going out. But the wise arose, saying, ‘Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you.’ The bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut,” Matthew 25:1-13.
The 10 virgins looked alike on the outside but different on the inside. They had all been invited to the wedding [the marriage supper of the Lamb] and were anticipating the arrival of the bridegroom. Each of them had a lamp with its small supply of oil in it. However as the evening wore on, five had no oil in their vessels. Yet the other five had extra oil in their vessels. The difference was the extra oil was to be ready to receive the bridegroom, Jesus the Christ. For it is the extra oil that will make the difference in the world when He comes. Perhaps that little bit of oil in the lamps can be likened to our own zeal and determination to do what we desire and want out of life. Yes, God expects us to be zealous for Him as we live this ‘set apart’ life. It’s important that we believe in our hearts that we will live for God and have a faith that says the Kingdom of God (or the spiritual realm where He rules as King) is at hand. We must make a whole-hearted commitment to please the Lord and be determined to bring a large supply of faith as the five wise virgins did—never being without, like the five foolish virgins.
There must be something beyond what we can provide for ourselves. We need to have oil [faith]. “For it is God which worketh in you both to do His will and to do of His good pleasure,” Philippians 2:13. This inner supply of oil [faith] is given to us by God. As believers, we must walk by faith; therefore, we will never do without. We may exchange God’s love with each other as we go about experiencing the love of God. We will then join in fellowship as true followers of Jesus Christ. We may win souls to bring people back to Christ.
In order to be ready when Jesus comes back, each of us will need to have a personal faith and inner divine power without which we cannot endure the kingdom of God at the end. This is that extra oil that we cannot give away nor share, because we must always be ready. Every man must have an inner willingness to grow spiritually and be a ‘faith walker’ exemplifying our true relationship with God, which says ‘you have extra oil, faith.’ How much oil [faith] do you have for when the bridegroom [Jesus] arrives? Will you be well prepared to meet Him?
