Ready When He Comes, Part II: What Keeps You Burning? - Sunday, September 13, 2026

If you have a lamp, do you have oil in your jar? In our last message, we talked about the delay. We looked at the words of Matthew 25:5: “The bridegroom was a long time in coming.” And we talked about what it means to wait when God takes longer than we expected. We were reminded that the delay does not mean the promise has been cancelled. In this parable, Jesus says, "...Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.” All ten had lamps. But only five had oil. And Jesus calls those five wise. That tells us that having a lamp is not the same as having enough oil to keep it burning. We are not told what the oil represents. There are many interpretations of the oil. We are not told whether oil represents prayer or the Holy Spirit but the point Jesus clearly emphasizes is this: the wise were prepared for the delay. They had made provision. They had something that could sustain their lamps when the waiting became longer than expected. And that means that spiritual readiness is cultivated before the crisis, not during the crisis. The take away is this: cultivate a spiritual life that builds your relationship and fill up oil that will sustain you in those moments. You cannot wait until the crisis to start building your relationship with God. You shouldn’t wait until midnight to go looking for oil like foolish virgins did. The wise women prepared before they needed it. And that is wisdom. That is why Jesus called them wise virgins. Do you have oil for tomorrow? What keeps your burning?