Love takes work.

Last week we started talking about the story of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25 and the importance of having oil in our lamp or torch. The oil’s job is to keep the fire going. A lot of people start off their Christian journey full of passion and excitement. Boy are they ready to perform miracles and raise the dead and tell everyone about Jesus! But over time, for a lot of people that passion fizzles and eventually dissipates. The flame goes out and they are plunged back into darkness.

Have you noticed how, if you go camping and you light a fire at nighttime, (or you are fancy and light your fire in your nice fireplace in your home) when you go to bed the fire could still be going strong but in the morning there are no flames? Left long enough, it all turns cold, and the fire is long gone. Why do the flames go out? Why does the fire die? There is obviously still plenty of oxygen to feed the fire. However, there is no fuel for the fire. Wood is the fuel to a natural fire as oil is the fuel to a spiritual flame.

You stop adding wood, the fire dies. You run out of oil, your flame goes out. In Matthew 24:3 Jesus’ disciples were asking Him about the end times and they said, “…What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?” Jesus talks about a few things that we will get into another time, but He says in verse 12, “There will be such an increase of the sin of lawlessness that those whose hearts once burned with passion for God and others will grow cold.”

These are people who were once fired up but somehow, their flames have died and their fire is long gone. What happened? I think the parable of the 10 virgins teaches us a few things. First, we must realise that they were all virgins. Why does that matter? I think virgins signify that they were consecrated, pure, set apart for marriage with the groom. That is us as Christians, we have been made pure by the sacrifice of Jesus. We are consecrated and set apart for Jesus. The 10 virgins are all Christians. They are all waiting for Jesus, the bridegroom. Their attitude in the waiting determined how their story ended.

What is the difference between the wise virgins and the foolish virgins? Only difference seems to be in how much value they put in having oil. How much value they put in keeping their fire burning. How much value they put in doing whatever it took to keep the fire burning.

See life happens to us all. There is no such thing as someone who has got it all together. We all face different challenges. Your challenges seem challenging to you because they are your challenges. You can look at another person and think they do not have challenges but they face their own set of challenges. What may be hard for one may be easy for another. No use comparing our life stories or struggles, we all have stuff to deal with. So, if we all have stuff to deal with what makes 5 virgins wise and 5 foolish?

The 5 foolish virgins probably did not want the hassle of carrying extra oil. “Jesus said He’s coming back soon, I am just going to do nothing and wait for His return.” That is not saving oil, your lamp burns out while you wait as we can see from the story in Matthew 25. The 5 foolish virgins also probably spent a lot of their oil dealing with things that were none of their business. Yeah, I said it. We can’t fight every fight, have the last word in every disagreement, write back to every post, comment or video you do not like. You are a limited resource. Save your oil. Focus on what God has called you to do.

The 5 wise virgins most likely knew how to be led by the Holy Spirit. He says, “Go buy some extra oil”. Even though it makes no sense, they do it. Even when they don’t understand they obey. Even when its inconvenient they follow through. Even when it is going to cost them everything, and having oil in your lamp will cost you everything, they still do it. Why? Because they value having oil in their lamp. They value their relationship with Jesus. They are not just interested in a ticket to heaven, they want a relationship with their Saviour.  

They are determined that if they have to wait their whole life before He comes, they are going to keep filling their lamp with oil so they can see Him face to face. They don’t want anything to get in the way of their love for Jesus. They don’t want their love to go cold. Love doesn’t just happen. It takes work. I once heard someone say it is much easier to fall in love than it is to stay in love. Staying in love takes work. Falling in love with Jesus is easy, He is amazing! Staying in love with Him when all hell is breaking loose and life is not going according to how you thought it should go, now that takes work.

Back to the 5 wise virgins, they tend to their flame. They keep extra oil at all times. They don’t ignore the flame and go to bed and expect it to still be burning in the morning. They keep a close eye on their flame. They listen close to the Holy Spirit, and they choose daily to live a life that honours God and that brings glory to His Name.

If you are doing something that if Jesus showed up while you were in the middle of it, you’d be embarrassed or would have to apologise and/or repent, you probably shouldn’t be doing it. Don’t compromise your flame by doing things that waste your oil. Save your oil.

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.