IS YOUR WICK WELL
TRIMMED?
This blog is written by Navaz D'Cruz. She believes this is a word for each one of us to take and examine ourselves and use this time to re-set our hearts.
Like John 15, I believe this is a 'now' word. God is
putting His finger on our vertical and horizontal relationships. Both John 15
and Matt 25 have those elements: our relationship with God, our intimacy with
Him and our relationship with our fellow Christians.
Jesus is talking about the end of all things in Matt
25. The signs will be wars, pestilence, earthquakes etc and they are only a
sign that we are closing in on the curtain call for all of creation.
We are in a preparation season. There are 3 parables
in this passage. All have a warning that if we behave like the foolish persons,
we will face the same fate.
Let’s look at the parable of the Virgins. Matt 25:1-13
Who are the virgins? All are believers.
The question is are we the wise or foolish ones? Don’t be quick to assume you
are the wise one!
We have all made a covenant with Jesus and He with us.
We have been betrothed to Him and now we are in a season of preparation.
They all had lamps – i.e God’s
Word. Ps119:5 His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
Lamps are also our service to God. It is our
life and service. We are those earthen vessels in noble service.
Light We are called
the light of the world
They all had oil – that is
the Holy Spirit. It is the source of power to keep the light going/our
witness for Christ to shine. They were all anointed. They all started off well. They were all
filled with the Spirit, passionate about being the light etc. The Holy
Spirit keeps us passionate for Christ and pure
They were all waiting for the Bridegroom. We
are all waiting for His return.
In this parable, we are warned not to be like the
foolish virgins. Don’t assume you are not. Examine your heart.
The bridegroom takes his time coming. When he comes it
will be a great day and a terrifying one
At the midnight hour – midnight
is significant in Biblical symbolism. It is the point of breakthrough. The
Israelites were delivered at midnight. It’s the darkest hour. It also refers to
a time when people get offended and all kinds of wards, hardships are upon
them.
Samson went to the temple pillars at midnight. The Philippian
jailer was saved at midnight. Paul and Silas were set free at midnight.
So midnight is when problems are at the greatest but it
is also the point of breakthrough.
Midnight hour - the virgins were asleep. It could refer
to the regular cycle of life or that they were unaware of what was
happening. Asleep the state of a lot of churches and Christians.
Then there is a cry – it is a
prophetic cry that rings out announcing the Lord’s return announcing His
return and that we should be ready. I believe that cry is going out in this
season.
All the virgins wake up and trim their lamps. I
feel the Holy spirit arrest my attention here. This is what we need to look at
in this season of preparation.
The oil lamps have wicks that need trimming or they
will give off a lot of soot /smoke that will dull the light.
The wick is the
channel to receive the holy spirit and be a witness.
The church is beginning to wake up from her slumber and
realizes that the wicks are smoky and the light is dim.
Oil is the activity of the Holy
Spirit that flows well through a surrendered heart
The wick is symbolic of your heart. Out
of the heart flows the issues of life. When the heart is impure you give off
smoke viz selfish ambition, pride etc. What Jesus is saying is that we need to
deal with our hearts and love God with all of our heart soul mind and strength.
Trimming the wick speaks of sanctification and
repentance. Cutting away things that are clogging our hearts. We
need to be constantly saturated with the Holy Spirit. This is something the
wise and foolish had to do. Over time our hearts can get clogged with sin, and
unresolved issues that dull our Christian witness. The lamp gives out light for
others to see. We all need to guard our
hearts for it is the wellspring of life.
What are some of the soot we are carrying in our
hearts today? Unforgiveness, offence, bitterness, pride, envy,
jealousy, disappointments, trauma, grief, betrayals.
In order to be light in the nation, we need to deal
with our hearts that are giving off a lot of smoke. Some of us have our lamps
and have a little oil but the wick still needs to be trimmed.
Has the light of the Church gotten dim today? What can
we do about it? Each of us needs to trim our wicks and sort those issues out.
Some hard work needs to be put into repentance
and a change of heart
God is committed to transforming us and making us
more like His Son Jesus. But we need to cooperate with Him.
Today there is a lot of smoke in the church and in
Christians with the marriage, family life, relationships etc. That
is why people don’t see the difference between you and the world. Our hearts
need to be changed and cleansed so that our ministries carry the life of God.
The difference between the wise and foolish
servants is the value they placed on the oil. The wise
ones paid the price of intimacy on daily basis. The oil and wick work in
unison.
This is time to reset our hearts. COVID-19 has
forced us out of our big gatherings into our homes. This is a time to reset
your walk with God, develop your intimacy with God. Don’t squander away this
time because it is not coming back. Then it will be too late. This is the
warning and we would be wise to heed this.
The foolish virgins are not evil people. They just did not value intimacy with Jesus. They go to the others and ask them for some oil. No one can give that to you. You have to pray the price. You have to buy it. It means you have to be willing to give up something in exchange for it. You have had to have invested time with God and forged a history with Him. It is not transferable.
No one can lay hand on you and give it to you. No one can
pray you into intimacy. I feel that is the picture of the foolish ones going to
the wise ones asking or oil. It is like “pray for me”, “lay hands on me”. No, it won’t
work. You have to do something to cultivate intimacy with God and get ready for
Jesus return. We have to be that bride that has made herself ready. What am I
doing to get ready for the greatest marriage of all time? There is a cleansing
and a beautification process like queen Esther went through. She took the
trouble to find out what pleased the King. Do I know what pleases my King?
What does intimacy look like?
Its is a close bond between 2 people that develops over time. It is progressive
as time is spent in each other’s presence.
V13 – Watch. Stay alert, vibrant. The opposite
is sleepy, halfhearted, unaware, no prayer life.
What are you watching for?
What is happening in your heart, the influences that are affecting you. Watch
the places of brokenness that you gathered. Rebuild the altar of prayer and
worship by cutting off other things.
What is at stake here is whether or not you get to enter
the celebration. Whether you enter in with intimacy, with honour and glory that
everyone can see. This is not about salvation. The door is shut. It will be heartbreaking to be left out
“Never knew you”- no intimacy developed.
You were happy for the benefits but did not want to put in the work of knowing
Him. The wise ones enjoyed the intimacy celebration and joy.
The key thing is to be ready. Allow God to trim
your wick- cleanse your heart and invest in intimacy so your light will shine. Thank God that we have his Holy Spirit that comes to aid us in our preparation. We are not alone. We also have a community. Let us spur one another on towards love and good deeds as we await His coming.
You can read more her Blogs here https://somequietthoughts.blogspot.com/