“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.” (Matthew 25:10, NIV)
I grew up with the oft-preached axiom that golfers should warm up before the round and practice after. It was OK to catch a cooling drink and a few minutes in the air conditioning before heading back out to the range, but out you would go, to work on the things that didn’t go so well during the day’s round.
Maybe my question is too obvious, but if it is, you probably share it: Isn’t practicing after the round too late?
Today is a funny day in the United States. Though it set aside for observing what we informally call the Fourth of July (Independence Day), today is the Fifth, and most everybody had their picnic and spent their fireworks yesterday. To prepare for the holiday today is a day late and a sparkler short. If you really wanted to celebrate as one who was ready, you needed to be getting your act together by the Third.
Readiness is a trait that underlies so many of the other characteristics that should mark a believer’s life. We’re going to be kinder, for instance, if we go into a setting anticipating that difficulties may confront us there. We’re going to be more generous if we have learned to earn well, save wisely, and give freely—knowing that everything is from the Lord.
We certainly can’t be prepared for every last challenge. But we can prepare in matters of character.
When Jesus told the Parable of the Ten Virgins, his sole emphasis was readiness. “I will come again,” Jesus implied through the parable. “Will you be like the virgins who were ready for the arrival of the bridegroom, or will you be scrambling to find some oil and be too late to see him?”
Paul wrote similarly to Thessalonians. He said that the Lord’s return will be like the unannounced visit of a thief in the night. We do not want to be unprepared but vigilant: “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).
Many years ago, I was confronted with one of the hardest hours of my life, the hour when I waited with a friend to surrender to the police. My friend, you see, had quietly wrestled with a deep temptation for a long time. Then he gave in. Had he come to me the day before and told me what he was dealing with, I could have helped; I could have enlisted others to help. But he waited until the day after. By then it was too late. He was contrite and in a way relieved that his sin had been exposed. But there have been years of consequences to pay.
Maybe you’ve never considered the importance of readiness. We certainly can’t be prepared for every last challenge. But we can prepare in matters of character, remembering that “whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10). In this way, it is never too late to practice.
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Jeff Hopper
July 5, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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