Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins – ca. 1616 – Hieronymus Francken (II) (1578–1623)
The five foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) and the servant with one talent (Matthew 25:14-30) shared a common end: They were shut out.
The parables also have a common thread within them: The ones who were shut out were presumably members in good standing within their respective households.
If I could only pick one thing from each parable that would have changed everything for the foolish ones, it would be these:
- The foolish virgins should have been prepared – Christians should be living both like Christ is returning today and like he will be waiting until tomorrow.
- The servant with one talent didn’t act on what he knew about the master – Christians know what God expects from us, yet many do not deliver.
The combination of these lessons gives us a basic sketch of proper Christian living:
- We are to prepare ourselves for Christ’s return at any given moment
- We should be prepared to sustain that readiness for a lifetime
- We will need to have prepared a proper settlement of our accounts on that day
What can you do to improve your readiness today?
February 7, 2014
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