“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible. When the foolish took their lamps, they did not take oil with them. But the sensible ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps. Since the groom was delayed they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’

Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish ones said to the sensible ones ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’   Matthew 25:1-8 HCSB

I learned one very important thing working in courtrooms for 25 years. Be prepared. There is nothing more embarrassing than getting up on the witness stand and not being prepared. On cross examination a defense attorney can make you look like an idiot. I am a fan of Judge Judy and I sometimes cringe when people go into her courtroom and are totally unprepared. One of her famous lines is, “Where did you thing you were going, to the beach?”

The thing is we should prepare for wherever we are going. If we are going to the beach, then we need things like water, sunscreen, a towel, and maybe a chair. We would wear flip flops, our bathing suit and hopefully a cover up. But if we are going to court, we would dress nicely and we need to have any and all paperwork pertaining to our case and be prepared to present any evidence that we may have. If you have paid the high price of an attorney, you certainly would not appreciate them coming into court to present your case totally unprepared right?

In our scripture passage today, these foolish virgins brought their lamps, but did not bring additional oil.  This may have been okay if the groom had arrived on time, but he was delayed. They weren’t prepared for this delay and ran out of oil. By the time they went and bought the oil needed, the groom had come and shut the door and they were denied entry.

You see, the time is here and now. Are you prepared? Where are you going? Are you dressed in your bathing suit and flip flops headed to court. I can assure you, they are not going to let you in. Are you in your Sunday best headed to the beach, be careful because your heels are likely to get stuck in the sand. Right here and right now is where we need to get prepared. Heaven is going to be all about loving and praising the Lord. God doesn’t require that we do that here on earth, He gives us a choice. But He won’t bring those into heaven that don’t do that here on earth.

If you want to get into heaven, you need to be practicing. You need to be loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). You need to put away your sinful nature (Ephesians 4:17-32). You need to be prepared for where you are going.

Now whether you realize it or not, how you are living here is preparing you for where you will spend eternity.  If you lack compassion, if you are mean-spirited, if you are prideful you are preparing to spend eternity in hell. If you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind, then you will praise Him, you will love others and put their needs above your own and you will be preparing to spend eternity in glory with God the Father.

No one in their right mind purchases a plane ticket to New York and hopes to end up in Los Angeles, right? But some of us think that we can live a life of sin and waltz straight into heaven, not so, my friend. We are told very clearly in Matthew 25:31-46 that God will separate the sheep from the goats or the righteous from the unrighteous. These verses tell us very plainly how we should live if we want to go to heaven. In verse 46 we are told that those who did not live a righteous life will go away into eternal punishment, but those who are righteous will go into eternal life.

Now some of you right now are saying that the bible tells us that we only have to be saved. Well, this is true, but if you are truly saved, you will want to do what is right. So, keep that in mind.

So, where do you think you are going? My friend, I beg of you today to know where you are going. Know without a doubt. Don’t delay, don’t fall asleep, be alert, because two minutes from now may be too late. Turn to God now, trust in Him, confess your sin, repent and love Him with your whole heart. Start preparing right now, today, to spend eternity in heaven.

Have a great day!