We need to be ready for Christ to come again.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. Matthew 25:13

“I’m hungry,” said my eight-year-old daughter. “I’m sorry,” I said, “I don’t have anything for you. Let’s play tic-tac-toe.” We had been waiting over an hour for the bride to arrive at the church for what was supposed to be a noon wedding. As I wondered how much longer it would be, I hoped I could occupy my daughter until the wedding started.

As we waited, I felt like we were enacting a parable. Although the vicarage where we live is a stone’s throw from the church, I knew if I went to fetch some crackers, the bride could come at any moment and I would miss her entrance. As I employed many distraction techniques with my hungry daughter, I also thought about Jesus’s parable about the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1–13). Five came prepared with enough oil for their lamps to stay lit as they waited for the bridegroom, but five did not. Just as it was too late for me to dash back to the vicarage, so it was too late for the young women to go and buy more oil for their lamps.

Jesus told this parable to emphasize that we need to be prepared, for when He comes again we will give an account over the state of our hearts. Are we waiting and ready?

What does waiting for Jesus’s return look like in your life? Have you left something undone that you could attend to today?

我们必须随时预备好，等候基督再临。

所以，你们要警醒，因为那日子、那时辰，你们不知道。-马太福音25章13节

在教会礼堂，宾客们正等待新娘的到来。这个婚礼原定中午举行，但大家已经等了一个多小时，新娘却还未出现。我那八岁大的女儿说：“我饿了！”我回答说：“糟糕，我没有为妳预备小点心。嗯，或许我们来玩井字游戏吧！”我不知道还要等多久，我只希望在婚礼开始之前，我可以让女儿乖乖地坐着。

在等待的时候，我觉得我们好像正在扮演耶稣的比喻。虽然我们的家和教会仅仅咫尺之遥，但是我知道，如果我回家去拿一些饼干，新娘可能随时会出现，我就会错过她进场的程序。我使出浑身解数，让饥肠辘辘的女儿分散注意力，也想起耶稣所说的十个童女的比喻（马太福音25章1-13节） 。有五个童女在等待新郎到来的时候，预备足够的油，点亮着灯，另外有五个却没有准备足够的油。正如这些童女来不及为手上的灯去买油一样，我也来不及回家为女儿拿点吃的东西。

耶稣说这个比喻的目的，是强调我们需要时时预备好，因为当祂再来的时候，我们必须为自己是否尽心尽意爱主，向上帝交账。我们是否已经预备好了，等待祂的到来呢？

你该如何预备，等待耶稣再来呢？
你是否有尚未完成的事，
今天就可以着手处理的呢？

Matthew 25:1-13New International Version (NIV)

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

整理：于姊妹