Tuesday, November 22
Behold
Matthew 25:1-13 NASB
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
“Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
“The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
“But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
“And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
“Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’
“But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’
“Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
Be Perfect
The only mature person is the person who loves the Lord his God with the strength of the emotion, the strength of the will, the strength of the mind, and the strength of the body. The whole person wholly devoted to God. And this is psychologically as well as Christianly sound. For unless there is wholeness of devotion in the affections, in the will, in the mind, there will be inner division; and where there is inner division there is inner conflict; and where there is inner conflict there is breakdown and neurosis, or at the very least a cancellation of one’s effectiveness. The important thing here is to note that the demand of Christ and the demands of human nature coincide. They demand the same thing—an individual and total love. That fact will loom larger and larger in our quest for maturity.
E. Stanley Jones, Christian Maturity.