TOPIC: BE WISE, HE IS COMING!
OPENING PRAYER: Sanctify my life dear Lord as I study your word in Jesus name.
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 25: 1-13
Question(s) for Reflection
• Is there any example for me to follow or not to follow? • Is there any warning for me to heed?
Outline:
In all cultures, wedding is a very joyous event and it hardly takes anyone by surprise because adequate time and preparation are usually given to it. Jesus likens the kingdom of Heaven to a group of ten ladies (virgins or maidens) who participated in a wedding ceremony. What, according to vs.2-4 distinguished five of the women from the other five?
Note that each lady had oil in her lamp when she took it (see v.8). The striking similarities among the wise and foolish ladies are worth noting: They were all virgins. They all had lamps. They all went out to meet the bridegroom. They all became drowsy and fell asleep because the bridegroom delayed. Despite all these similarities, the five foolish women did not get into the wedding party. Why? What is the bad example that we must avoid?
What are the rewards of preparedness (vs.9,10b), and the consequences of unpreparedness (vs.8, 11-12)? Before the arrival of the bridegroom, it was not possible to distinguish who was or was not prepared. So it is today, and so it will be at the second coming of the Son of Man.
Practice/Word Application
• And So? Some have argued that the five wise women were being selfish and un-Christian. Why is this not an acceptable assessment of them?
• Any new insight or reinforcement of what you already know?
Closing Prayer
• Pray that God will help you keep watch, “because you do not know the day or the hour” (v.13). • Pray for Christian Ministries that either provide free Bibles or are involved in Bible translation into ethnic languages such as Gideon International, Bible Society of Nigeria, etc.
Offer a prayer of faith in line with
Bible Reading: Amos 7-9; John 8:1-27
