“For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come.” Revelation 19:6b-7a (ESV) Waiting teaches most of us to lower our expectations. We stop…
“Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Revelation 19:9a (ESV) Some invitations are earned and some are simply given. The ones you earn come with a record attached. The ones you are given come…
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Matthew 25:13 (NIV) This week may have settled in you like a weight. You sat with the parable, examined the oil, and it became heavy. That is a real…
“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived.” Matthew 25:10 (NIV) Six words carry the full weight of this verse. The door did not close because the virgins were defiant or indifferent. It closed…
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’” Matthew 25:6 (NIV) Nobody expected the cry to come at midnight. The hour felt wrong and all ten virgins had fallen asleep. Then the cry…
“Five of them were foolish and five were wise.” Matthew 25:2 (NIV) The line in this parable is drawn before anything dramatic happens. It is not drawn at midnight or when the lamps go out. It is drawn at the…
“The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.” Matthew 25:3 (NIV) You can carry something real and still not be ready. The five foolish virgins were not pretending or rebelling. They had lamps and…
“I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.” 2 Corinthians 11:2 (NIV) Maybe you have been quietly missing church lately. Not in a dramatic way, more like one…
“and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Ephesians 5:27 (NIV) You smooth out the wrinkle before anyone walks in. Maybe it is a messy room,…
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NIV) Nothing about that moment in the garden…