Prepared for the Bridegroom

By Travis Robertson

    As a child one of my favorite things was to go with my brothers on their Boy Scout camping trips. Well, I guess I really didn't have a choice in the matter with my dad being the scout master and my mom doing all the cooking. The part of these trips that always fascinated me was the immense preparation it took before we could leave. Of course, all the preparation went along with the Scout motto, "Be Prepared."
    The question for us today is, "Are we prepared for the Bridegroom?" If you think about it, we prepare for almost everything we do: our jobs, school, exercising, making dinner, etc... But when it comes to our relationship with Jesus, "how much do we prepare?"
    This reminds me of the parable Jesus gave in Matthew 25:1-13: “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour" (ESV).
    Have you prepared for the Bridegroom? If you have not prepared for the coming of Jesus I urge you to be like a good Boy Scout and "Be Prepared!" You can prepare when through faith (Acts 16:30-31) and repentance (Acts 17:30-31) you are baptized into Christ washing away your sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16) and continue to follow Him faithfully (1 John 1:7).

- Travis Robertson preachers for the Lake Norman Church of Christ in Huntersville, NC. He may be contacted through the congregation's website at http://lakenormancoc.org/