THE ENDURANCE TO FOLLOW JESUS - In the mirror of the Bible

“Then the kingdom of Heaven will be like this: Ten wedding attendants took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible. The foolish ones, though they took their lamps, took no oil with them, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.”

“But at midnight there was a cry, "Look! The bridegroom! Go out and meet him." Then all those wedding attendants woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, "Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out." But they replied, "There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves." They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed. The other attendants arrived later. "Lord, Lord," they said, "open the door for us." But he replied, "In truth I tell you, I do not know you." So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.”(Matthew 25: 1-13)

REFLECTION: 

During the time of Jesus, weddings have so many rituals that they last for some 4, 5 or 7 days. The wedding attendants here represent the followers of Jesus. Being humans like us, the attendants get tired and fell asleep. It only shows here that reality bites. People face problems, struggles, and troubles. But it is how to respond to these discouragements.

The first message here is about endurance. It is about staying on. It is easy to start on anything, the question is will you be bale to finish it. It is easy to say - I FOLLOW JESUS NOW. But will you FOLLOW HIM UP TO THE LAST DAY of your life. Will you persevere till the end?

The second message is about sharing. The wise attendants did not share their oil to the foolish attendants. The truth here is, somethings in  life cannot be shared. There are things that you cannot do for somebody else. They have to do these things by themselves. At the end of the day, there are somethings that you cannot pass on to others.

There are just somethings that you only can do. Like making a DECISION TO FOLLOW JESUS. You can be inspired, encouraged, or influenced by others, but at the end of the day you have to make a choice and decide.  It is about you.

God has given us an extra bottle of oil already. God is already in us. All the power, all the love and all the endurance that we need is already within us. All we have to do is to trust Him and ask Him for that grace and that grace is already there within us.

Have you followed Jesus yesterday? Are you following  Jesus today? Will you follow Him tomorrow?

PRAYER:

Father God, come to me, I pray that Your Holy Spirit work in my life so that I will have have the endurance until the end. And follow you no matter what happens. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

BE THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF - In the Mirror of the Bible

“So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.  You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”(Matthew 24: 42- 44)

“Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy servant whom the master placed over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed that servant if his master's arrival finds him doing exactly that. In truth I tell you, he will put him in charge of everything he owns.”(Matthew 24: 45- 47)

REFLECTION: If you knew that you only have a few hours left to live, what quality of life will you live? Will you be the best version of yourself. Will you be the best of you who are?

God is calling to us to be faithful and prudent servants.  Who is a faithful person? Trust is another word for faith. A faithful person is a trustworthy person. A faithful servant is someone God put His trust with a responsibility.

God put us in charge. God created, designed and called us to be blessings to others. He designed us not to live for ourselves but to be servants of other people. God did not make us so that He will just love us but God made us so that He can love through us . God want us to be in-charge of His Household.

God is not about inclusion - He is about expansion. God is not about decrease - He is about increase. God is about prospering us - so that we can prosper others.

God wants to bless us all so that we can become great blessings to others.

Life is short and we do not know when it is going to end. The message Jesus is telling us right now is to be the best versions of ourselves because the world needs the best versions of ourselves. The people in our lives need the best of what we can be.

PRAYER: Lord, I open my life to all that you want o give, to all that you want to bless me with. Come Lord, so that I can be a channel of your blessings to other people. In Jesus’ Name. Amen