In today's devotional, Jesus uses the parable of the 10 bridesmaid and the 3 servants to teach us about our preparedness for the kingdom.
Questions; what made the 5 bridesmaids wise? Why didn't the master give all the servants the same opportunity? Does these story mean there will be an accounting at some point when we come into the kingdom?
In the story, we noticed that the bridesmaid had several similarities; they were all bridesmaids looking forward to meet the bridegroom, they each took a lamp and all had oil in the lamps at some point. The bridegroom was delayed equally to all of them. They all became drowsy and fell asleep, what differentiated them was;
"The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil."
Matthew 25:3-4 NLT.
The wise simply had extra oil. That extra came in handy when they were all roused. Oil like I said can represent many things to all of us, whatever keeps you shining for God is the oil, whether it is the Holy Spirit, the word, love for God and people, etc, just ensure you have extra. The wise bridesmaids were called wise because they had extra.
The next question; why not give all the servants equally? The problem is, the master actually gave them equally, he just gave them to the proportion of the abilities.
"He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip."
Matthew 25:15 NLT.
Anything above the 5, 2 and 1 he gave them would have been a waste of resources they won't be able to handle. The problem here is not equity but using well what you have been given.
To our last question, I think it is reasonable to live with the mindset there would be an accounting when we come into the kingdom. Here it's a separation between good and bad, goats and sheep, eternal punishment or eternal life, the better question is asking how I can be certain I will not be disappointed when this reckoning comes.
