Tag Archives: wedding

How’s your oil level? (Matthew 25:1-13) June 12, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ephesians 1-3

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 25:1-13
Jesus: Or picture the kingdom of heaven this way. It will be like ten bridesmaids who each picked up a lantern and went out to meet a certain bridegroom. Five of these women were sensible, good with details, and remembered to bring small flasks of oil for their lanterns. But five of them were flighty, too caught up in the excitement of their jaunt, and forgot to bring oil with them. The bridegroom did not turn up right away. Indeed, all the women, while waiting, found themselves falling asleep. And then in the middle of the night, they heard someone call, “The bridegroom is here, finally! Wake up and greet him!” The women got up and trimmed the wicks of their lanterns and prepared to go greet the groom. The five women who had no oil turned to their friends for help.
Ill-prepared Bridesmaids: Please give us some of your oil! Our lanterns are flickering and will go out soon.
But the five women who’d come prepared with oil said they didn’t have enough.
Prepared Bridesmaids: If we give you some of our oil, we’ll all run out too soon! You’d better go wake up a dealer and buy your own supply.
So the five ill-prepared women went in search of oil to buy, and while they were gone, the groom arrived. The five who stood ready with their lanterns accompanied him to the wedding party, and after they arrived, the door was shut.
Finally the rest of the women turned up at the party. They knocked on the door.
Ill-prepared Bridesmaids: Master, open up and let us in!
Bridegroom (refusing): I certainly don’t know you.
So stay awake; you neither know the day nor hour when the Son of Man will come.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Another story that should warn us about being unprepared for Jesus’ coming. Once again, those around Him understood the customs well and got the nuances of the story we probably miss. A few days ago, I mentioned the wedding practices of Jesus’ day in which the Father decides when the wedding will take place. He determines the additional room on the family’s house is sufficiently prepared for his son to bring in his bride and tell his son, “Go, get your bride.”

That’s the day the wedding takes place. No other announcement. That’s it. People in the village looked forward to the wedding feast and knew it was near as they watched the new construction near completion, but not until the father told his son to get his bride did anyone know the wedding would take place that day.

So the rest of the story. These were a big deal in a small village. It meant not just the expansion of the family, but the perpetuation of the family name, succession of property, passing of the family legacy and so much more. The wedding was a big deal. But to go to the wedding you had to join the wedding party as it passed through the narrow paths between the bride’s home and the groom’s home. If you missed the procession, you missed the wedding and you missed the feast.

When the revelers saw the times was getting close, they often stayed at the ready. Not knowing exactly when the father, son, and the rest of the wedding party would come by, people would wait by the roadside so they could join in and not miss it. That’s whats happening with these bridesmaids. The ten wait by the road expecting the wedding party to come by at any time. But they don’t know exactly when it will be because the father hasn’t released his son to fetch his bride yet. They know it is soon because the room looks like it’s done. They better be ready.

Five had the appearance of being ready. But it was just appearance. They looked good on the outside, but didn’t have everything they needed. They didn’t bring any oil. Maybe they expected the party to pass by in the daytime. Maybe they expected the party to pass by at least by early evening. But for whatever reason, the father delayed the coming. Those unprepared were left out. And like with Noah’s ark. Like the untrustworthy servant. These unprepared bridesmaids found themselves shut out.

They missed their chance. They knew what they needed to be part of the feast. They had part of their equipment, but didn’t pay attention to the details.

How about us? We know what it takes to get into the wedding feast. It takes confessing our sins, asking forgiveness. Believing in Jesus, God’s Son, as the means of our salvation, the one who sacrificed Himself to pay the penalty for our sins. It takes true repentance, turning away from sin and toward obedience to God. We know what we need to make it to the feast, but have we prepared? Have we accepted Him as Lord? Are we watching for Him and keeping at the ready for the moment He passes by?

Only you and God know the answer to those questions. But you can know. And in just a few moments in prayer with Him, you can have the assurance that you are ready and waiting at the roadside. If He tarries before coming, it means keeping oil in your lamp, staying prayed up, keeping Him as Lord, living the life He wants you to live.

How’s your oil level? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The wedding feast (Matthew 22:2-14) May 20, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Jeremiah 42-46

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 22:2-14
Jesus: The kingdom of heaven is like a king whose son was getting married. The king organized a great feast, a huge wedding banquet. He invited everyone he knew. The day of the wedding arrived, and the king sent his servants into town to track down his guests—but when the servants approached them with the king’s message, they refused to come. So the king sent out another batch of servants.
King: Tell those people I’ve invited to come to the wedding banquet! Tell them I have prepared a great feast! Everything is ready! The oxen and fattened cattle have all been butchered, the wine is decanted, and the table is laid out just so.
And off the servants went, and they carried the king’s message to the errant guests—who still paid not a whit of attention. One guest headed into his field to work; another sat at his desk to attend to his accounts. The rest of the guests actually turned on the servants, brutalizing them and killing them. When he learned of this, the king was furious. He sent his army to kill the murderers and burn their towns. But there was, of course, still a wedding to celebrate.
King (to his remaining servants): The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited didn’t rise to the occasion. So go into the streets and invite anyone you see; invite everyone you meet.
And the servants did just that—they went into the streets and invited everyone they met, rich and poor, good and bad, high and low, sick and well. Everyone who was invited came, and the wedding hall practically burst with guests.
The king looked around the wedding party with glee, but he spotted one man who was not dressed appropriately. In fact, he was dressed rather plainly, in clothes not at all fitting for a fine nuptial feast.
King: Kind sir, how did you get in here without a proper suit of wedding clothes?
The man was speechless. He had been invited in off the street, after all! Getting no response, the king told his servants,
King: Tie him up, and throw him out into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and grinding of teeth.
For many are invited, but few are chosen.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

What a story! A wedding hosted by the king. Invitees acting like it isn’t important. In fact, invitations being completely ignored and then beating and killing the servants who sent them. Destroying the homes and towns of those who killed his servants. The banquet hall being filled with anyone and everyone the servants could find to invite off the streets. A man not dressed in wedding clothes thrown into the streets.

What can we learn from all of this today?

I think there’s a lot we can learn. God gave us everything we need to find Him. In fact, He invites us to join Him in a great celebration at the wedding feast of His Son with His bride the church. But what do we do with the invitation? Do we treat it like it has no value? Do we, like the first people pointed out in the story ignore the invitation and lose the opportunity to enjoy the benefits the King of kings wants for us?

Or worse, do we murder the reputation of those sent to bring people into His kingdom? Do we fail to give honor and respect to God’s people, those who share His message? I’m not just talking about the Israelites, His chosen people, and I’m not just referring to the pastors that share God’s message from pulpits every week. I’m also talking about those prophets that come into our lives and remind us of some of the behaviors we engage in that are contrary to God’s word.

Do we drive them away and treat them the way these characters treated the King’s servants? Perhaps not. Perhaps we listen the prophets and preachers and teachers God sends our way and find our way into the company of His saints. We travel along with them through the doors of the church and sing the songs they sing. We read the scriptures they read. We even hold some of the religious offices they hold. We give of our time and treasure and there we are ready to participate in the wedding. The servants the King sent out shared the messages and we followed along and it looked like we did all the right things as we followed along with that new group of people those servants went into the streets to invite.

But then the King comes and asks an important question. Where’s your wedding clothes? How’s your heart? You heard the invitation, you knew it was a wedding, why didn’t you dress in the appropriate attire. What is the appropriate attire for the King’s banquet? We must be drenched in the redemptive blood of His Son, Jesus. If we haven’t asked for His forgiveness and received Him into our lives as Lord, we’re wearing the wrong clothes.

It might look to everyone else that we’re doing everything we’re supposed to. We might fool everyone else along the way. But God and I know my heart. He knows your heart, too. I know if I’m wearing the wedding garments, ready to enter His banquet hall. He doesn’t keep my position with Him a secret. I know if I’m right with Him. There’s an old hymn about that, my wife’s favorite. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long.

We can have that blessed assurance that we will be part of the great wedding feast with God. All it takes is faith and walking in the path He tells us to follow. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

There’s a party coming! (Luke 12:35-48), Jan 12, 2015

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Today’s background scripture comes from Luke 12:35-48


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Many around you will say, “There is plenty of time to get right with God. He said He was coming back 2,000 years ago and He hasn’t come back yet. I can always start living right next year.”

My Son told those who would listen a parable about masters who returned unexpectedly or thieves that came in the middle of the night. You probably don’t know much about masters and servants where you live. In Jesus’ time on earth, people understood the parable clearly. Perhaps today, I would use a story about a company owner or a store manager and his employees, instead.

How well does the assistant manager perform when the manager is on vacation? What does he find if he comes back early? Or you probably hear about thieves that break in and steal things a lot. Well, maybe that has become so common place you no longer hear much about it. But if the owner knew the time a thief were coming and convinced the police or his neighbors of his coming, the owner would prepare and the thief would not break in.

My Son said He would come back at a time only I know. It’s like the weddings in ancient Israel. Sons prepared a home for their bride and the marriage took place only after their father saw their son could care for his bride in his new home. My Son is still prepare a place for you. When I tell Him it is ready for you, I will tell Him to come and get you. Then He will split the sky like a lightening bolt and in the blink of an eye He’ll bring His bride home with Him forever.

You will never know when I send Him. He will come like the unexpected manager or the thief in the night. Like Jesus told those who listened to His parable 2,000 years ago, be ready, you don’t know when he’ll come. You don’t want to miss that party!

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Luke 12:35-48
Set – Genesis 29; Luke 12
Go! – Genesis 29-30; Luke 12

Luke12:35-48
Jesus: I’m not just talking theory. There is urgency in all this. If you’re apathetic and complacent, then you’ll miss the moment of opportunity. You should be wide awake and on your toes like servants who are waiting for their master to return from a big wedding reception. They’ll have their shoes on and their lamps lit so they can open the door for him as soon as he arrives home. 37 How fortunate those servants will be when the master knocks and they open the door immediately! You know what the master will do? He’ll put on an apron, sit them down at the kitchen table, and he’ll serve them a midnight snack. 38 The later he comes home—whether it’s at midnight or even later, just before dawn—the more fortunate the alert servants will be.

39 In contrast, imagine a complacent, apathetic household manager whose house gets robbed. If he had been aware that thieves were waiting in the bushes and what hour they were coming, [he would have watched and][a] he never would have left the house! 40 I’m trying to tell you that these are times for alertness, times requiring a sense of urgency and intensity, because like the master in the first story or the thief in the second, the Son of Man shows up by surprise.

Peter: 41 Lord, I’m not sure if this parable is intended only for us disciples or if this is for everyone else too.

Jesus: 42 Imagine the stories of two household managers, and decide for yourself which one is faithful and smart. Each household manager is told by his master to take good care of all his possessions and to oversee the other employees—the butlers, cooks, gardeners, and so on. 43 One servant immediately busies himself in doing just what he was told. His master eventually comes to check on him 44 and rewards him with a major promotion and with more responsibility and trust. 45 The other household manager thinks, “Look, my boss is going to be gone for a long time. I can be complacent; there’s no urgency here.” So he beats the other employees—the women as well as the men. He sits around like a slob, eating and getting drunk. 46 Then the boss comes home unexpectedly and catches him by surprise. One household manager will be fortunate indeed, and the other will be cut into pieces and thrown out.

47 Now if a servant who is given clear instructions by his master doesn’t follow those instructions but instead is complacent and apathetic, then he will be punished severely. 48 But if a servant doesn’t know what his master expects and behaves badly, then he will receive a lighter punishment. If you are given much, much will be required of you. If much is entrusted to you, much will be expected of you.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.