| (Copyright 2023) by Curtis Dahlgren (Stephenson, Michigan) |
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| “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins who went forth to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and five of them were foolish. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. At midnight a cry was made, ‘Go out to meet the bridegroom.’ All those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, but the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us of your oil for our lamps have gone out.’ “But the wise said ‘Nay, lest there not be enough for us and you. Go to those who sell and buy for yourselves.’ While they went to buy oil, the bridegroom came, those who were wise went into the marriage, and the door was shut.” – Matthew 25 BE PREPARED AND WAKE UP is the obvious lesson. A lot of people have awakened in 2023, but I want to analogize this parable. Imagine 10 typical Americans who are at least token believers. Three of the foolish know nothing about religion or the world situation, and don’t WANT to, but consider themselves sort of “spiritual.” They don’t have a clue about the border crisis or inflation. Two of them hardly ever vote. They are sleeping soundly. Don’t even know where their lamps are. Two of the foolish are a little more open-minded. They consider themselves well-informed, but in the great left-right culture war, they only listen to one side, the wrong side. The oil in their lamps is running low. Occasionally they think spiritual thoughts but are sound asleep right now. Of the five wise citizens, three of them consider themselves good Christians, but believe in easy salvation. They are lukewarm, but they sleep quite well, too. The other two are typical Americans who are tossing and turning in their beds. Dreams vary from scary to victorious. They are sighing and crying for the sins of the land between sleeps. All five have oil left in their lamps but need to wake up and prepare themselves. The five foolish will beg for oil off the “haves” when they wake up. They will suffer “issues.” Beyond these 10 are other citizens – non-believers, hostile skeptics, Jew-haters, false swearers, adulterers and so forth. And their karma is coming back like a boomerang. Many of them are like the man in Matthew 25 who was given one “talent” (a little money). When the Bridegroom returned, his talent had not earned a single extra talent. He had not produced any fruit for the owner of the “vineyard,” so the Lord said of the slothful man, “Take from him his talent and give it to him who has ten talents.” Matthew 13 says, “It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given; for whosoever has, to him shall be given, but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even that which he has.” IN OTHER WORDS, “UNTO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH SHALL BE REQUIRED.” P.S. I’m not changing the parables, just using them to bring home a point more plainly. The one about the sleeping virgins says a lot about the great continental “divide” in this country. Which one of the ten are you? There is an implied solution to division if you know what I mean. PPS: The writings mentioned above don’t sound very socialistic, do they? ———————————————————————————————————- See Curtis Dahlgren’s other articles at: Dahlgren, Curtis – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) Reprinted with permission from: Renew America http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/dahlgren/220131 ———————————————————————————————————- |
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