And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Romans 13:11
Five lovely young ladies are taking a nap. The wedding party hasn’t shown up yet, and it is getting late. These young ladies are all ready for the procession, they are dressed and have made sure their lamps have plenty of oil. But it’s late and they are weary. So they lie back and catch a few winks. After all, what else is there to do this late at night? When the wedding party comes, they’ll rise up and join it. But it’s comfortable here, and they’ll nap for now. They’re not alone. Five other young ladies are also waiting. But they haven’t prepared, their lamps are empty. They’ll be left behind, and they don’t realize it. If the five with the oil had remained awake, they could have warned the other five to go get oil and be ready. But they didn’t. They are like Christians who fail to warn those around us to be ready for the Lord’s coming.
In our text, Paul speaks about knowing the time. Do we know when the Lord will come for us? No, but we do know that He could come at any time. We know the time is short. We know that it is high time to awake out of sleep. Knowing this, why are we sleeping? Why are we cruising through life on comfort control, enjoying the nice things that our money can buy, the pleasant places our money can take us, and the delicious food that our money can supply us? Even our ‘Christian’ activities are comfortable, including the fine cars we drive to meetings where we sit in soft chairs and air-conditioned environments. Life is pretty posh for Christians these days. We are like the five wise virgins, we know we are ready when the Lord comes, but we don’t have much concern about whether anybody else is ready. We need to rouse ourselves out of our sleep and sound the alarm.
Yes, as Christians, our salvation is nearer than ever. But so is the damnation of the lost all around us. Let us wake up and warn them! -Jim MacIntosh