Late!

"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. Matthew 25:1-13 NAS95

Have you ever been late? Of course, you have. If you are human, you have been late for something. Maybe it was a paper due in school, an interview, a doctor’s appointment, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseam.

Sometimes our “lateness” is a choice. So many things pile up and we just run out of time and energy, or perhaps we must wait on someone else. We have a lot of reasons for being late. We also have a lot of excuses. I could name some, but you get it, lateness is a problem we all have from time to time.

This musing is late. Right now, I am four days behind on my schedule. I cannot even totally justify my lateness. I know and understand why I am behind. Part of it was I had nothing to write about. The busyness of my life lately, has spilled over into my personal time and I have not had time for some important stuff, like reading the Word and thinking about Scripture.

Last night I finished a huge project, I have been working on it for the past four months. I finished it on time, presented it, discussed it with those for whom I prepared it, and have only a couple of minor revisions to make and it will be done. Yeah. But the project, along with some others, has created a situation of me being too tired for my own personal good. As a result, “writer’s block” caused by a lack of inspiring input.

I could have pulled something out of things I wrote for volume one of Disturbed Thinking, (the book that started this blog and is available on Amazon). You would not have known and, it would even be okay to do so. But I thought I was too busy even to do that. Now I am late.

I woke up this morning and knew I had to do this, knowing I was late, and feeling I had nothing to say because my soul was empty. And then the Scripture came to mind included with this musing. I realized not only was I late as a writer, but my soul was also in the condition of the empty lamps of the five foolish virgins. If the Bridegroom had come, I could easily have been late for the wedding.

There are so many demands on our time today that it is easy to let stuff get in the way of nourishing our souls. It was a battle I faced even as a pastor. We need food daily, our soul needs food daily as well. Don’t let this blog be the only thing you do for your soul this weekend. Make sure you are “full” of Godly “oil.” Don’t be late for the “wedding” because you needed to get some spiritual oil.

I realize I could be doing a better job writing about the return of Christ, as represented by the wedding. I hope that you are mature enough in your walk to understand what I am trying to say. Just in case here it is simply stated. Don’t let the busyness of life keep you from filling your spiritual lamp and make you late for the return of Christ.