Lee and his wife Nicole had just finished exercising at the gym. As they went outside, the howling wind blew snow into their faces. “Wait here; I’ll get the van,” Lee told Nicole.
Pulling the van up to the door, in his rearview mirror Lee could see Nicole cleaning the snow off the back window before opening the door. Hearing the door close, Lee drove off for the warmth of home and a good meal.
A few minutes later, Lee became aware of the quiet. Looking in his rearview mirror, he was shocked to find he had an empty van! Where was Nicole?
Turning the van around, Lee was back at the gym in no time, and he found a very unhappy Nicole! She could not understand how he could have taken off without her! She had put only her gym bag in the back of the van, but Lee had assumed that Nicole had also gotten in the back quickly to get out of the windy, stormy weather.
They laughed about it later, but it made me think of a day when lots of unhappy people will be left behind, and not one of them will be laughing about it later.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of ten young women who were waiting for the bridegroom to come. They all had oil lamps, but only five were wise and had oil for their lamps; the other five were foolish and did not have any oil.
While waiting for the bridegroom to come, the ten women fell asleep. Then at midnight they heard the announcement, The bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him! And they all got up and trimmed the wicks in their lamps. Then the five women who didn’t have oil in their lamps asked the others to give them some of their oil. The answer was, No, or we might not have enough for ourselves if we give you some of ours!”
So those without oil had to go buy some. And while they were gone, the bridegroom came, and the wise women with oil went inside, and the door was shut.
After buying the oil they needed, the five foolish women came to the door and wanted to go inside for the wedding. But they were told, No, I do not know you, and they were left outside!
It makes us wonder why those five women waited so long to go buy oil. Why didn’t they take care of that matter right away so they would be ready when the bridegroom came?
But wait. Are you doing the very same thing? The Bible tells us that we are all sinners, and we will not be allowed into heaven with our sins. God cannot have even one sin in heaven! So what are you doing about that? And what makes it so urgent is that Jesus is coming again to take to heaven all the people whose sins have been washed away. He doesn’t tell us when that will happen, so we need to be ready right now, because it could be today!
Are you ready? Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your very own Saviour? He loves you and died on the cross for you. And if you are truly sorry for your sins and have come to Him to have your sins washed away, the door to heaven will be open for you. You will never be turned away! “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
But for those who will not trust in the blood of Jesus to wash away their sins, they will not be allowed into heaven. The door will be shut for them, and they will be punished for their own sins forever and ever!
Boys, girls and grown-ups, settle the matter right now! Make sure you are not left outside! It would be worse than terrible! God, “who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4), has made a way for you to be saved. It is up to you to be truly sorry for your sins and to believe that the Lord Jesus died and shed His blood to wash away your sins. Won’t you believe on the Lord Jesus who loves you so much?
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
MEMORY VERSE: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:36
ML-06/15/2014