Key verse: " Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh". (v.13)
Why do we always lock our homes whenever we go out? Or why do we lock our houses before we god bed at night. If your answers to both questions are to keep the thief at bay so that he does not steal your goods, then you are correct.
But beyond that we also do other things that make us prepare for situations that are unexpected. Bringing an umbrella is one of them, or checking your bag the night before, or studying in advance even though you don't have homework so that you will be ready for any surprise quizzes in school. There's also preparedness for calamities.
The bible reading also gives us how we prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. His Second Coming won't be as secretive as his first one, since he will arrive in the sight of all of us. But what is the correct way of preparing for his Kingdom? The parable divided the virgins into wise and foolish ones. The wise virgins kept an extra oil in their lamps while the foolish ones didn't. The oil and the lamps symbolizes our faith in Jesus Christ. It must be forever burning. And how do we keep it burning? By reading and understanding the bible, communicating with him in prayer and spreading god's word to all the people. The extra oil that the wise ones carry symbolizes that they keep god's words in their hearts. The foolish ones that didn't bring extra oil are that ones that are the carnal ones. When their light extinguishes, they didn't prepare enough or they placed much trust in the world. Then they notice that they need god and asks those wise ones for help. They refuse since there might not be enough, meaning that there may come a time that in the last days there will be a drought in God's word. Thus they will try and look for it, until they didn't notice that our Lord came back. He will then tell those foolish ones I knew you not.
I wrote this as the first BBS topic since we are already living these times. We have to be like the wise virgins. Keep your lamps open, so that you can see your path and not get lost or fall into a ditch. Keep your spare oil, so that the light of your lamps be not extinguished. We may never know when the bridegroom will arrive, and when he does we will have be invited to his feast.
May the blessings our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
BRIAN LUCIANO
FEBRUARY 1,2016
