Don't Be Foolish

When I was little, every couple of years we would spend Christmas with my dad’s parents in Greenville, SC.  It always made me nervous to do that because I could never be sure Santa knew we were there and not at our home in Sumter, SC. It would have been devastating if he had delivered all of my gifts to Sumter, 3 hours away and we weren’t even there and wouldn’t be back for a couple of days!  On the evening news, they would report Santa sightings in the sky.  Multiple times on Christmas Eve night, I would go to the hall bathroom, close the door, and stand on the toilet to look out the window to see if I could see Santa and his reindeer in the nearby sky.  Eventually, although I tried, desperately, to stay awake to hear a rumble in the chimney, or the pitter patter of reindeer feet on the roof, I would fall asleep.  Each year we were in Greenville, when I awoke, sure enough, Santa had been there - never did he get it mixed up!!!

St. Matthew recorded one of Jesus’s parables in the first 13 verses of chapter 25.  There were 10 women (virgins), each hoping to be the one chosen by the bridegroom.  They knew he was coming, but were not sure when he would arrive.  Jesus says 5 of the women were wise and took extra oil to keep their lamps lit once they ran low, but 5 were foolish and took none.  As they waited expectantly, they fell asleep.  At midnight, the announcement of the bridegroom was heard.  The foolish women’s lamps had burnt out so they asked the wise women to share their oil.  The wise women refused saying they didn’t bring enough to share, “Go buy some!”  While the foolish women were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom arrived and entered the wedding banquet with the wise women and the door was shut.  When the foolish women returned with oil, they begged to be allowed to enter, but were told, “Truly, I tell you, I don’t know you.”  

The moral of the parable is that we should keep watch because we do not know the day or the hour that Jesus will return for His people.  As I wrote in last week’s message, “Scripture tells us that Jesus will return, one day, to take His people to Heaven and leave all of the evil, unbelievers here on Earth to face judgement.  When will that be?  Soon!”  

As a child, I believed in Santa Claus.  I was sure I had been a good girl, so he definitely was not going to skip me. Like the 10 virgins, I knew Santa was coming overnight, and I tried to stay awake, but I fell asleep.  I thought it was foolish for us to be in Greenville and not at home.  Lol!

While the people of Jesus’s time had been made aware that a savior was coming, they did not know when it would happen.  The prophets had spoken of His coming, but no one knew when exactly when it would happen.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”  ~Isaiah 7:14, written 740-700BC 

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”  ~Micah 5:2, written 772-722BC

When the Magi visited King Herod, after following the star announcing the Messiah’s birth, Herod called together the teachers of the law to inquire when this new king was to arrive.  They recited Micah 5:2, written around 605BC.  For 600 years they knew, it was to happen, but they didn’t know when. “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”  Matthew 2:6

While God told of the Messiah’s coming, He did not say when.  God has told us Jesus will return for His people, but He has not told us when.  Being caught off guard by Jesus’ birth would bear no consequences, but if He returns and you’re not ready, there will be consequences.  Like the foolish women who went to get oil for their lamps because they didn’t think ahead, the door will be shut and He will not know those people.  When Jesus returns, there will be no time for preparations.  He is coming for the prepared! 

Matthew 24: 27-31
For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29“Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
30“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

Why wait to get prepared?  Why wait to believe?  Why wait to start living the kind of life Jesus demonstrated we should live?  You may think this world has so much to offer that giving it up to live for Jesus would be a burden, I promise you are wrong.  Don't be foolish!  Life with Jesus is more fulfilling than than anything this world could possibly offer.  It’s hard to explain, but I was in the world for a portion of my life, then my eyes were opened and I began to see how God was working in my life and I was taking credit for it.  I began to realize that the life He planned for me is way better than anything I could plan for myself.  Try it.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Amen.  Come. Lord Jesus. 



It is my prayer that you and all who read this week's message have joyous time with family and friends this week as you celebrate Jesus' birth.  If the opportunity arises, share Jesus, the meaning of the season with someone who may not know Him. 



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Kim
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