Matthew 25

Yes, I know, it's been a while. School's been out for about a week and a half now, but my girlfriend's been down for a week, then I got my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday, so because of that I haven't written in here since school let out. One of my favorite things to do in here was to write a little about my devotions, so I'm going to start doing that again.

The chapter I read today was Matthew 25.

It's divided up into three sections: The Parable of the Ten Virgins, the Parable of the Talents, and the Final Judgment. A little background here: Christ has been in the temple preaching and teaching after being received into Jerusalem by placing palm branches at his feet while he rides in on a donkey (to fulfill Zachariah 9:9). Lawyers, Pharisees, and Sadducees all come and ask him questions in succession, and Christ blows them out of the water to the point where no one "dare[d] to ask him any more questions" (Matt 22:46). In chapter 23 He rips into the scribes and pharisees and exposes them before the crowd as the hypocrites they are. Christ then foretells the destruction of the temple and the end of the age in chapter 24.

At the end of chapter 24 Christ says that no one, including himself, knows the hour of His return
except the Father. Chapter 25 is mostly parables about how we should be in waiting for His return. The section that stood out to me the most was the first section on the ten virgins. Basically, 10 maidens are waiting for the bridegroom to appear so they would be allowed to go to the wedding feast. 5 were alert and were smart enough to carry enough oil with them so their lamps would be lit throughout the night. The other 5 not only didn't have enough oil, but fell asleep while waiting. They had to go get more oil, and in that time the bridegroom came and took the 5 wise virgins with him, and when they other 5 finally came back, it was too late and they had to stay outside in the darkness. My study Bible has a couple sentences that really stood out to me: "The delay of Christ's return distinguishes the wise from the foolish. Being ready mean being prepared for a long delay; short-lived zeal is inadequate."

We should be prepared to wait a while for the Lord's return. It has already been about 2,000 years since he left, but we still do not know the day or the hour. We should constantly be preparing our lives and growing in Him. Yes, in one sense, we should be living each day as it could be our last, we should be witnessing and pointing each other to Christ, but in the other sense, we need to planning our lives for Him.

Ok, that's all for today. Hopefully write more soon.