PARABLE ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN 

The Bible says, “Happy are those who have been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” (Rev. 19:9)

Jesus often spoke to the public using parables. Parables were used as an easy and interesting way to understand the morals hidden in the message. According to the ages, their traditional customs and common methods of life were indicated in these parables.

Most of His public was the Pharisees, Jews, Priests and disciples.  Since the Greatest Teacher, did not want his listeners to be professors or doctorates, but wished his words and teachings to penetrate into their hearts deeply and shake their attitude. His one and only intention was to give them a contrite heart.

That’s why even today when we read or meditate the parables, it touches and pierces our attitude.

Jesus gives individual message in His teachings, so that we can be conscious about our thoughts and deeds.

"At that time the Kingdom of Heaven will be like this. Once there were ten girls who took their oil lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish, and the other five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any extra oil with them, while the wise ones took containers full of oils for their lamps. The bridegroom was late in coming, so the girls began to nod and fall asleep. "It was already midnight when the cry rang out. 'Here is the bridegroom! Come and meet him! ‘The ten girls woke up and trimmed their lamps. Then the foolish ones said to the wise ones, "Let us have some of your oil, because our lamps are going out."  "No, indeed" the wise ones answered, "there is not enough for you and for us. Go to the shop and buy some for yourselves." So the foolish ones went off to buy some oil; and while they were gone, the bridegroom arrived! The five girls who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast and the door was closed. Later the other girls arrived. "Sir, sir! Let us in!" they cried out. 'Certainly not! I don't know you.' the bridegroom answered.  And Jesus concluded, "Be on your guard, then, because you do not know the day or the hour." (Matt. 25:1-13)

Procession has an important role in Jews’ festival. As per their tradition, the bridegroom and his companions would arrive at the bride’s place with a lit lamp in their hands. No prior information would be given to the bride’s family or home. Since they usually arrive late night, the bride and her group would wait wide awake with their lamps lit. Once the bridegroom arrives to take them, they both return with a procession to the bridegroom’s house.

Everyone who joins the procession must hold a bright lit lamp and those who failed to do so would be considered an insult to the bridegroom.

In this parable, the banquet hall is compared to the Kingdom of God.   The ten girls represent the bride’s family members.The arrival of the bridegroom represents the second coming of our Lord Jesus.

In the Book of Revelation 19:9, we read, “Happy are those who have been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”

In short, girls who did not have the oil in their lamp were disqualified from the feast and were called foolish. Though they tried borrowing oil from the wise girls, they were not successful lest the wise girls’ lamps too run short of oil.

What does the author convey to us?

The second coming of Jesus would be sudden and unexpected. To enter the specially prepared and adorned Kingdom of God, every faithful mankind need to possess a ever shining lamp prepared by the glow of their life i.e. the careful, virtual life by obeying His commandments.

“Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it:  Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Matt: 22:27)

In Luke 14:28, the Bible says, “If one of you is planning to build a tower, he sits down first and works out what it will cost, to see if he has enough money to finish the job.”

“When Judgement Day comes, many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord! In Your Name we spoke God’s message, by your name we drove out demons and performed many miracles!’ Then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people.’ ’’ (Matt. 7:22-23)

Similarly, we read in the parable that after the door was closed, the girls were knocking and pleading to the bridegroom to let them in but the bridegroom answers, “Certainly not! I don’t know you.”

As a virgin oil is extracted from the source and processed, so also a proper devotional life pleasing God produces the oil to keep our lamps (heart) shining brightly and this burning light is the result of various timely corrections, teachings, instructions through the readings of the Holy Bible, even scolding’s from  parents and spiritual teachers. This virgin oil that is processed within each of us cannot be borrowed.

If all these corrections  have been happily accepted and brought changes in your life pattern then you will be invited to enjoy the wedding feast of the Lamb and if you refuse, reject or are careless about the corrections you will be disqualified from entering the banquet hall.

It is certain that our Lord Jesus will come again to judge the people but the year, day or time will not be published. It will be a day of individual judgment too.

So unlike the foolish girls, let us value the invitation, and fulfill our responsibilities with an aim to light and bright the lamp, taking care to fill it with the most pure oil, so that we are ready to accept the bridegroom and join His procession.

May God bless you to be vigilant at all times and give you the courage to fulfill the responsibility of your status. May He make you wise enough to take a good decision till we enter the Feast of the Lamb. 

RECOGNISING GOD’S CALL

God says, “But I will bless the person who puts his trust in me. He is like a tree growing near a stream and sending out roots to the water. It is not afraid when hot weather comes, because its leaves stay green; it has no worries when there is no rain; it keeps on bearing fruit. (Jer. 17: 7-8)

God uses various methods to inform His call to the chosen one.

It can be a dream for e.g. “An angel of  the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him. So get up take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.” (Matt. 2:13)

When I was bed ridden, I had such a dream wherein I saw myself discussing with youth and praying in large group etc.. Later when it was fulfilled I realized the dream was a sign from God. Such dreams does not disappear from our heart and keeps flashing in our mind often, making us question ourselves, the origin of it.

We get information about God’s call through community prayer leaders, spiritual teachers, counselors or even from our parents. 

An example of this could be seen in (Acts 13: 1-4). In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (called the Black), Lucias (from Cyrene), Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the governor) and Saul. While they were serving the Lord fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, to do the work which I have called them.” They fasted and prayed, placed their hands on them, and sent them off.

Jesus (Guru) calls his disciples. The Bible states, “As Jesus walked along the shore of the Lake Galilee, he saw two brothers who were fishermen, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew, catching fish in the lake with a net. Jesus said to them, “Come with me and I will teach you to catch men.” At once they left their nets and went with Him. He went on and saw two other brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee, getting their nets ready. Jesus called them, and at once they left the boat and their father, and went with Him.”( Matt.4:18-22) They were tired, hungry and famished when Jesus called them but they recognized and obeyed His call.

In Old testament, we can read about Hannah offering her son Samuel to God. Hannah made a solemn promise: “Almighty Lord, look at me, your servant! See my trouble and remember me! Don’t forget me! If you give me a son I promise that I will dedicate him to you for his whole life and that he will never cut his hair.” (1 Samuel 1:10-11)

We can see Zechariah prophesied about his son John.  “You my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God. You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare His road for Him, to tell His people that they will be saved by having their sins forgiven.” (Luke 1:76-77)

Mary answered ,“Let your will be done.” She  accepted and stood for God.

God crowned Her mother of the Universe and gave authority over all rulers.

 When we humbly answer God’s call, it brings blessings upon us.

Peter, Andrew, James and John left everything and followed Jesus the moment He called them and they became the apostles and cornerstone of the church.

After God calls Man to Life he said, “Subdue the world” giving authority over the creation.

God’s way of invitation and giving duty are different for each individual.

God wanted Abraham to leave his country and go to a new place where God wanted him to live. It is difficult to think logical about what God expected from Abraham. But his faith and trust allowed him to obey God. Till today, even we his descendants still enjoy the fruits of his obedience. Praise be to the Father of the Nation.

When you get God’s call, don’t be afraid or remember about your temporary loss. Answer and follow His order. Grow in the knowledge of the True Living God, love Him, Live in Him and serve others like a loyal servant of God.

Let us enlighten ourselves as to why God sent His beloved Son to the world.   

(Luke 4:17-21)

On a Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue and stood up to read the scriptures:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

Because He has chosen me 

To bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind;

To set free the oppressed,

And to announce that the time has come

When the Lord will save his people.

There will be many struggles and sufferings to face and overcome. As Jesus said above, because we are chosen, Lord’s spirit is upon us. That Holy Spirit will continuously assist the one who obey God. 

Jesus was tested by the worldly force by offering richness, possession and protection.

If you willingly submit your life as an instrument for His marvelous Plan, Lord will anoint you with His Mighty Power and convert your life with His joy, peace and courage. Your heart and lips will continuously utter that nothing can separate me from the Lord’s service for He has gifted me this wonderful Life in union with Him. Once you begin to grow and experience God’s presence, you will get the thirst to share the divine experience with all those around you.

The Lord says, “Everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved.” (Matt.10:22)

As the Bible says, “Be alert! Be on the watch. Your enemy the devil roams like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” Be firm in your faith and resist Him. Then will God share His eternal glory in union with Christ.

God said to Jeremiah, “I chose you before you were born and I selected you to be a prophet of the nations.” Jeremiah replied, “Sovereign Lord! I don’t know how to speak. I am too young.” God answered, “Obey Me, don’t be afraid of them for I will be with you to protect you.”

As God transformed Moses, humblest of humbleness, with sincere contrite heart, let’s lift our prayers to God who wants us to be with Him. Having refuge in God, and with prayer and patience as our weapons, let us move towards the destination of our call.

Eternal Call

Every Breath of Life  tells us of,

The loving call to one and all

Man! O Man listen to these

Call of the Almighty full of eternal bliss.

Call to be His own dear child

Leaving differences far behind.

Cast the unwanted pleasures of life,

Leave the daily greed and strife.

Come forward, accept His invitation

Come surely with self determination.

Come to Him, for Life salvation

Give others His message of inspiration.

TO BE WITH GOD

“Even before the world was made,God had already chosen us to be His through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before Him.” (Eph.1: 4)

Many people believe that the nature, sun, moon, stars and even human beings never had a beginning. There is an endless eternal cycle of birth, life and death that constantly repeats itself. This eternal cycle never began and never ends. It always has been and always will be.

Whereas, the Bible tells us something different. It teaches that there was a time when the world did not exist, only God existed. The God of the Bible is not a force  or an unknown absolute, but He is a person. He knows, thinks, has emotions and loves. This God decided to reveal Himself by creating the world and thus the world began.

When God created the world, He created it good. As you read through the first chapter of Genesis, notice how often the author refers, “…..and God saw it was good.” This means that not only there was no sin but everything functioned perfectly. There was no storms, no famine, and there was no destruction in the perfect world that God made.

Among all His creation, Man is the most wonderful one.

God created Man in His own image, blessed them and put them in charge of everything when He said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, birds of the air and every living creature that moves along the earth.”

The Bible teaches that Man is unique among all of God’s creation. We are the only ones being created  in the image and likeness of God. We are given the capability of being friends of God and communicating with Him as one person to another.

After creating all the wonderful things of the world, God finished with his greatest creative art; the creation of man and woman.

In the Bible we can see every evening, God the Father goes with His children for a walk. Walking in the midst of His children, hand in hand, or His hands over their shoulder, inquiring the happenings of the day and above all enjoying the happiness of his children.

Believers in Christ,our God is not an untouchable force or a remote but He is a person. He thinks about us, He plans for us, he talks to us, He loves us and above all he cares for what he has created. Similarly, He expects the same from us.

God our Father, invites us to be with Him and to share our life. He even abandoned the heavenly glory and came down to the ground to be with His beloved ones in the form of a man.  Praise God for His love!

Throughout the Bible, we see God calls His children to maintain the beauty and holiness of His Creation, the World.

God picked Abraham as a foundation of a new humanity.

The Lord said to Abraham, “Leave your country, your relatives and your father’s home and go to a land that I am going to show you. I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless the nations.”(Gen.12: 1-3)

Abraham was certain of God’s call and His Power. When he listened and obeyed promptly, God blessed and fulfilled His promises.

God has created us to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him. “It is He who made us capable of serving the new covenant, which consists not of a written law but of the Spirit. (2 Cor.3:6)

The One who calls you is faithful and He knows our weakness and knows how to handle us. 

Abraham was a man of faith. Moses had big doubts about his leadership abilities and resisted God by  bringing up his unworthiness like fear, cowardliness, speech difficulty and hot temper, but God who chose him before he was in his mother’s womb comforted him.

As we flip through the pages of Bible, we can read God’s various encounters with His chosen prophets. Physical inability,disqualification,a sinful past etc…nothing can act as a barrier or revoke God’s plan for us.

Let us listen to His Calling and accept it. 

Let us Pray

Loving Father, you have chosen every individual to be with you. Before the world was created you had chosen us and takes care of us to be partner of Your Glory. During the acceptable time O Lord, You call us to be at Your service. 

O Lord, You called Abraham, Moses and his descendants and they accepted Your voice and obeyed duly. Moses stayed with You for forty days and nights without food and water writing your commandments. 

Through the intercession of Abraham, Moses and his descendants. O Lord, give us the courage to proclaim Your Glory and declare and make known the prosperity of Your Bountiful Goodness.
O Lord, Your praise shall I sing throughout my life.