Beginning of a Series

"No one was really too surprised  the wedding didn't begin on time. There's something about weddings that make it easy to start late. Perhaps it's because there are so many people who have to get ready. But the bridesmaids had gathered at the appointed place of meeting. There was the usual flurry of last -minute preparations, interspersed with quick glances at the clock.

"Is the bridegroom here yet?"
"No, not yet. But He'll come."
"I wonder what's keeping him?"
"I can't imagine. Surely he'll be here soon."

But he didn't come. And didn't come. And still didn't come.

The bridesmaids' gowns were spotless. Every hair was in place. Each girl carried a brightly burning lamp and was ready to join the marriage procession. Each was looking eagerly for the bridegroom to arrive so that the ceremony could begin. But still he did not come.

As minutes passed by, and then hours, the girls grew restless. Then tired. One by one they carefully set their lamps aside and found a comfortable place to sit while they waited. The evening was quiet. The day had been a busy one. At last all ten of the bridesmaids had fallen asleep. And no wonder - it was nearly midnight, and still the bridegroom hadn't come.

At midnight a cry was made. "Here he comes now!"

They were on their feet at once. The flurry of last-minute preparations began anew. To their dismay, they discovered their lamps had burned low. The oil was almost gone, and the flames were ready to go out. Five hurried to refill their lamps, but five had no extra oil. They had not prepared for such a long wait. And even as they watched, their lights flickered and went out.

"Doesn't anyone have extra oil?" The question was repeated, but no one had any extra. The bridegroom appeared. It was time for the procession to begin. The five who had oil in their lamps joined the procession. But the five whose lamps had gone out had to hurried away to find a place where they could buy or borrow more oil.

An Oil Shortage 

It was past midnight now, and although the five bridesmaids hunted all over town, there was no oil to be found. Finally they returned to the wedding. "We've missed the procession and the ceremony." they said. "But maybe we can at least get in on the reception."

 

But when they arrived at the recption hall, they found that the door was shut. Sounds of music nad laughter were hear. They knocked, and knocked again. At last the door was opened by the bridegroom himself.

"let us in," they cried. "We're supposed to be in the wedding."

 

The bridegroom examined the girls before him. They looked more like street urchins than bridesmaids. Their gowns were rumpled and spotted. He didn't recognize them. Slowly he shook his head. "I don't even know you," he said And he shut the door. They had missed the wedding.

"I don't even Know You"

 

Jesus is the one who first told this story about the wedding. You can read it in your Bible, in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. He was trying to impress His hearers with the importance of knowing God for themselves."

 

"Knowing God is what Christianity, and religion, and life is all about. The Bible says, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3) " 

 

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I shared a while back that I was reading a great book called:

"To Know God... a 5-day plan" by Morris Vendon.

 

 

Well this book was too good not to share some bits and piece of it with you. So I decided to do a series- on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please know that there is SO much to this book that there is no way that I can cover it all - and even if you read this entire series - if you get a chance to read this book - I would highly recommend it.

This book might be small in size and how many pages it has-only 125 pages.

It has a wonderful way of making some difficult things easier to understand.

I hope you are as blessed by this series as I have been by the book.