A midnight visitor (Parable of the 10 virgins Matthew 25:1-13)

A midnight visitor (Parable of the 10 virgins Matthew 25:1-13)

One of the most troubling things that can happen is to be unexpectedly awoken in the middle of the night. A loud noise in the home at night automatically stirs fear in your heart that someone may be trying to break into your home while you are sleeping. The phone ringing at a late hour immediately brings fear because no one would be calling this late unless something was wrong. Someone knocking at your door in the middle of the night couldn’t be a good thing. In our parable, we see that half of the virgins are caught off guard by the fact that the bridegroom returns at midnight hour. They were probably awoken from a dead sleep when cries began to ring out that the bridegroom had returned (verse 6); this caught the foolish virgins off guard. We must ensure that we are always ready for the return of the bridegroom (Jesus) or we too may be caught off guard like the foolish virgins.
Living in Southern WV almost every home is ready to greet an expected midnight-hour visitor to their home. We sleep with a firearm on or near our nightstand so that are never caught off guard by a would-be intruder. We are prepared to meet the thief who may or may not come but are we prepared to meet Jesus who is beyond a shadow of doubt is coming. At least four times in scripture it says that Jesus will return like a thief in the night. (Revelation 16:15, Matthew 24:43, 2 Peter 3:10, and 1 Thessalonians 5:2) A thief isn’t going to call and let you know what time and date to expect them to attempt to rob your home, so you always must be prepared for their arrival because the moment you let your guard down you become vulnerable. No one knows the time and date of the return of Jesus, yet we always must be ready. Do not be caught off guard by our returning Savior; make sure your heart is prepared to greet Jesus whenever His return may be.