“For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take extra oil with them; but the prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps” (Matthew 25:3-4).

Are you prepared to give an account of the hope that is within you?  It is tempting to simply rely on the idea of the grace of Jesus and do nothing.  That is not wise.  Come, the Lord says, let us reason together.  You are diligent about earthly things, so why are you not equally diligent about your eternal life?  Forgive me for saying this if you are.  Jesus wants to awaken you to the urgency of His kingdom.

Lord, You know how lazy I can be.  I spend my time the way I want to spend it.  I am often frivolous with important things and focus upon things that do not matter.  Lift me out of the indifference of this life to see things as You would have me see them.  Continue to lead me up and out of this world’s thinking to put on Your mind and see things the way You know I need to see them.

Lord Jesus, You have come to save me.  Beyond knowing that my sins are forgiven, help me to live this life which You are offering me.  Take the energy I pour into temporary things and help me to pour them into the life You intend for me to live.  Take me ever deeper into the mystery of the faith You have revealed to me so that I may continuously grow into Your likeness.  Amen.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom.  Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent” (Matthew 25:1-2).

There are many who say they are Christian.  We do not know which is which; in fact, we are forbidden to make that determination, but do heed the warning for yourself.  Prudence is continually seeking for the right things.  We once called it common sense.  If you are going to be a part of the family of God, then be a part of God’s family.  There can be no sitting on the fence.  There are the foolish and the prudent.  Which are you?

Lord, You have said it plainly, and I look around and see many who say they believe, but act no different than those who proclaim they do not believe.  Take my eyes off others and guide me deep inside to make a moral assessment of where I am.  Where I am lacking, fill me.  Where I am clinging to that which hinders me, remove it.  Take me the whole distance to go where You are calling me to go.

Lord Jesus, You are the judge of the living and the dead.  You are the One who enables me to live into the life You offer.  Lead me by Your grace to grow day by day, in order that I may fulfill the Father’s will for my life.  Help me to press through the struggles that are before me so that I may live a true and everlasting life.  Aid me to be teachable.  Guide me, Lord, and teach me to follow You.  Amen.

“Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.  But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk; then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, and he will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:47-51).

Our culture promotes a life of dissipation.  (Jesus has this covered, so eat, drink, and make merry.)  That is the mockery of this age.  We each have been given time in which to live life.  Will we live life, or continue to live the death into which we were born?  The Lord has offered to free us from a life that is meaningless to live a life that prepares for eternity.  We can choose to stay with hell.  Heaven is the way and the life that is offered.

Lord, there is nothing more serious than the life You have offered through faith by grace.  The old Adam is indifferent.  You are offering something different, real, true, and eternal.  You call us to not think that we own anything but are stewards for which You entrust us with what we care for.  Your word of truth calls us to live according to the way You have established things.  Teach us these things and help Your people understand.

Lord Jesus, You have spoken plainly, but sometimes, in my muddled head, I do not see things, as I am able to only by Your help.  Lead me up and out of this fuzzy thinking to live into the life You call me to live.  Take all indifference away from me so that I may take care to heed the word You have given me.  You have made me a steward of all that You have entrusted to me.  Teach me how to be a steward after Your own heart.  Amen.

“Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes” (Matthew 24:46).

Do you act as a slave of the Lord?  Are you your own person?  Do you spend as much time learning the truth of the Lord as you do with entertainment?  Are you doing what the Lord gives you to do?  It is obvious from the meltdown of our culture that many who say they follow Jesus are giving lip service but doing little or nothing else.  You have been given a call from the Lord of all creation.  Are you faithfully following that call?

Lord, I know that I am to spend my time with You.  I do not.  Teach me the discipline I need to live the life I tell myself and others that I am living.  You know where I am no different than the unbelievers around me.  Help me to be true to myself so that I can be genuine to others.  Help me to not play the games of this world, but live into the life for which I am being prepared by You for eternity.

Lord Jesus, You have called for me to be faithful.  Where the pollution of this world has seeped in, show me and correct me.  Where I am speaking the words, but not living according to Your word, correct me.  Where my god in this world is anything but You, the true God, kill it.  Keep me close to You Lord so that I may walk in what I believe and live according to the full revelation of Your word.  Amen.

“Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time?” (Matthew 24:45)

We all are stewards.  Everything belongs to God.  We will leave our things all behind when we leave.  What then?  We are stewards.  We are slaves to something.  What do you do as a steward?  The best you can for the master.  Who is your master?  You cannot serve two masters.  You will not be your own master.  The Lord has provided.  What will you do with what He has provided?

Lord, this world tells me I am my own person.  This world lies.  I defy the lie with all the things I am obligated to do.  If I were truly free, I could literally do whatever I feel like doing.  But I cannot.  Help me to live the life of stewardship that You have given me.  Guide me in the upward call of faith so that I look to You and spend my life preparing for what You have in store for me.  Teach me how to be a steward.

Lord Jesus, I have been put in charge of many things.  You have led me thus far in the faith You have given me.  I am also filled with the pollution of this age.  Guide me Lord in the upward call that You have given me so that I become a good steward of the mysteries of faith which You have revealed to me.  Help me to do what You give me to do each day and not shirk the responsibility of being Your steward.  Amen.

“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.  For this reason you must be ready as well; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will” (Matthew 24:43-44).

If we think selfishly, we will miss the point.  Scripture says it elsewhere when it says, “Be ready to give an account of the hope that is within you.”  Today may be the day you meet the Lord.  Are you ready?  Always be ready.  He will not judge you on what you do not know, or what you have not done, but upon what opportunities you have taken to know Him and what you have done with what He has given you.

The thief is the wicked one who will attempt to steal the hope that is within you.  We live in a world filled with wickedness that wraps itself in false light.  See the wickedness that will try to steal the faith you have been given.  Let the Holy Spirit guide you through the traps of this world.  Always live preparing yourself for the promise which is the basis for the hope we have been given.  Live preparing to meet Lord Jesus face to face.

Jesus, You know how often I live in the moment.  I am tossed about by waves of thought filled with untruths that swirl all around me.  Your word is truth.  Help me to keep Your word as the anchor that holds me in the place of truth.  From there, guide me to live in the truth of the revelation You have given me.  Let me be ready on any given day to give an account, whether to others or to You.  Amen.

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42).

The only day that we have ever been given to live through is today.  Tomorrow will have its own issues.  Do not be like some who become anxious thinking the end is here.  It will come for us all like a thief in the night when we have our turn to sleep in death before the great and terrible day.  Live each day expectantly, for the Lord is with us always.  When it is time, the end of the age will come for us all.  Live then, today, for the Lord of life will come someday.

Lord, all things are in Your hands.  You Who wonderfully knit me in my mother’s womb have called me to journey with You by faith.  In that call, You have guided me according to the word which You have spoken.  Lead me now and always in the truth of the faith which has been delivered by You once for all.  You are the Good News of salvation.  Lead me ever deeper into this salvation which You have given.

Lord Jesus, You are the way, truth, and life.  Through You alone is there hope and an eternal future.  Guide me beyond the pitfalls of this life to learn how to live faithfully.  Lead me in the way which You have spoken so that I may live this life You have given me, being always ready for Your return.  You know the plans the Father has for me.  Guide me so that I live according to His eternal plan.  Amen.

“At that time there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left” (Matthew 24:40-41).

In a way, there has been a sifting that has gone on since the beginning.  In our lives, one looks to Jesus as Lord of all, and the other does not.  We do not know the hearts of others.  Truthfully, we barely know our own heart.  Do not be led by the ways of the world, but by the word of the Lord.  Do not focus upon which one you may be; simply live your life with the Lord and be His.

Lord, I sometimes wonder if, in given these warnings, You are trying to get us to not dwell on them but simply trust that all things are in Your hands.  If so, then guide us in the way of moving beyond our prideful selves to humbly live the life You have given us to live.  Teach us how to love You and others as You do us.  Guide us to see things truthfully so that we may see the world as it is.

Holy Spirit, You know my heart.  Sift me and guide me through those places where I do not live faithfully.  Help me to know that in You alone is all hope.  Help me this day to not look at others and wonder who will be saved but to look at others and see that they too are beloved by You.  Help me to live out the call You have given me and guide me in the way of this life in which I have been redeemed. Amen.

“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:38-39).

When sin abounds, those who live for themselves do not understand when judgement falls upon them.  It is not that God is constantly judging this world, for it has already been judged; but the end will come upon everyone and those who have ignored the truth will be caught off-guard.  The real warning for us is to pay attention to the Lord, listen, and follow His way, for He has shown us the way of eternity.

Lord, every age seems to be filled with those who carry on as if only their individual lives matter.  People carouse, party, and live care-free lives that do not care for You or for others.  Help me to look to You above all things.  Guide me in the way You would have me go.  There are so many things around me that tug at me.  Keep me holding the course of faith and learning from You how to navigate through this world filled with woe.

Lord Jesus, not only do I need the justification You give which saves me from eternal death, I need Your sactification to make the journey that is before me.  You know the end and are the way of truth.  Help me to follow You in all Your ways.  Guide me now and always to follow the right way You have shown.  Lead me in the upward call of looking to You alone, the One who saves, as my source and sustenance.  Amen.

“But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.  For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:36-37).

The end will come when it comes.  Do not live each day as if it were the end of the age, but as if it were perhaps the last day you have here.  There is a difference.  Some become so caught up in thinking they know what Jesus did not know.  Some place their hope on being lifted out of this mess; through death, we all will be.  There will be tribulations in this life.  Do daily what the Lord gives you to do.

Lord, my pride gets the better of me and I want to be someone special with inside information.  But that is not true faith.  I need to learn to humbly trust You above all things.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy so that I live into the life You offer me through faith.  The world seems to increase its insanity, but maybe it is just maturity of faith that helps me to see the way things always have been.

Lord Jesus, regardless what I do or do not know, help me to live into the life of faith that You have given me.  Teach me to live each day in the hope You give.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to humbly accomplish each task You give me.  Guide me so that I humbly follow through and be found faithful.  Our times are in the Father’s hands.  Help me to be content in being with You.  Amen.