Day 210 "Go ahead and give the foolish your oil if you like; I'll keep mine, thank you."

Day 210 Matthew 25:1-13 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” A while back there was a very common theme of conversation started among the people I was ministering and visiting with: "a call to holiness." It seems that no matter who begins the conversation regarding what God is doing in their lives or what He is leading them to focus on, it keeps coming back to living in a manner that is worthy of the calling, worthy of His sacrifice, and being willing to proclaim that message in love without fear. Somehow, many in the church in America (by that I mean believers and their leaders) seem to have bought into the lie that we are not to offend people with our message and that we are to be overwhelmingly gentile and gracious when dealing with everyone, even those who profess to believe yet act as if they are of the world. The statement "judge not lest ye be judged" has completely negated all other passages that tell us that when our brother has sinned against us, we are to hold him accountable (Matthew 18:15). I'm not for one second saying we are to be legalistic or spend our lives seeking out the imperfections of others; however, I am saying that when people are obviously choosing to live a life of sin while professing to be believers, we should not stand idly by nor pacify and make excuses for them. What does this have to do with the preceding passage you ask? Jesus said, “Now five of them were wise and five were foolish.” He also tells us that the wise did not give their oil to the foolish lest none of them would be ready for the bridegroom. You see, many of today's leaders would say that even though the five were foolish and knew better, you should give them some of your oil, but that is not what our savior said. Yes, it is a story, a parable, yet Jesus is the one that used the word foolish, not me, and it is here to teach us. You see, when people are aware of what is coming, and when they have the tools they need to be prepared and choose not to prepare, choose not to obey, choose to be lazy and slothful and giving into the desires of their flesh, we are not responsible. Did you catch that? If we are giving people the direction they need and showing them the way and providing opportunities for them to be discipled, and they choose not to be ready, we do not need to feel guilty or adjust what we do in order to make up for their choices nor do we need to apologize for the truth of the Word. This is not our Word, it is His; He inspired it, and His spirit is in it. How dare we change it or apologize for what it says–could that not in some ways be heresy? Yes, maybe that sounds a little strong yet there are those who have done just that. Let me give you a quick example. There are a group of men who are the so-called leaders of the "emergent church movement" who have said they believe that when Christ returns He will return to restore peace and communion between all men and animals with God, yet nowhere does the Bible say this or many of the other things they speak as truth; however, the Christian church is standing idly by and even singing the praises of these men. Look it up for yourself. I will tell my brother in love when he has gone astray, and I will never apologize for God or His word no more than He did. It is time for us to stand in love and to stand for the truth rather than patting our brothers and sisters on the back, all the while allowing them to be deceived and led astray for fear of offending them. Daily Prayer: Father, I pray for the ability to balance between loving your people into the kingdom and loving them out of deception. Show me when to be firm and when to be soft, and show me Your ways I pray, Oh Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. "Go ahead and give the foolish your oil if you like; I'll keep mine, thank you." Gene Burroughs, Pastor