Be Prepared - The Wedding Banquet

You may have been watching or reading about the astronauts that are likely to be stuck in space till 2025. They have the confined vessel as their home. And they appear to be bearing up knowing that although everything has not lined up for them, the mission was for a purpose and they would eventually get back to earth to report on it. Or it might be that they are simply graciously playing the hand they are dealt.

What if we can draw a parallel with this and our life on earth? What if we are created solely for the purpose of eternity? Our other purposes therefore are secondary to this. What if life’s purpose is for us to find ‘the way’ - Jesus, to receive eternal life. What if living from then on is living in Him travelling ‘the way’ in our everyday lives with the outcome being an eternity with Christ. What if for all its unexplainable joys, challenges, ambitions, and suffering, life is less that a visible dot in eternity? What if earth is simply where we stay a short while and prepare for eternity?

I began to reflect on this because Jesus spoke about heaven as a wedding feast that we need to be prepared for. He used the parable of the bridesmaids to describe 2 states of preparedness and the outcome for both. The ones who stayed continuously prepared entered in and ones who were not continuously prepared did not.

Matthew 25 - New Living Translation

Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids
25 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids[a] who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, 4 but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil.5 When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’
7 “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’
9 “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. 11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’
12 “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’
13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.

In a world where we are likely to be preoccupied with the here and now, our responsibility is to sometimes explore these 'what ifs'. If we believe that Jesus died for our sin just for us to have all we want here, we miss the mark and limit the value of His sacrifice and our salvation. We are saved for an eternity with Christ. We prepare our hearts and minds and live like the way leads somewhere beyond instagramable earthly possessions and joy. We do this by believing that Jesus died for our sins and by living the way He said we should 🙏🏾.

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