Skip to main content

Tanned and Ready

WARNING: Content is girly chick-stuff.

I see parallels in everyday life that serve as excellent examples of my spiritual walk with God. Many times I don’t post these because they seem a bit superficial and girly. But I was encouraged this morning while talking with my daughter about a parallel she saw in nail polish (more on that later). So, I decided to share my most recent insight with you.

The story begins with me and my girls in Walmart. We are chattering about white legs, summer and sunless tanning lotion. We decide on a product, make our purchase and happily apply it all week. It works and we are elated.

Fast forward 3 weeks… I have tired of the “chore” of applying the lotion evenly each day and find myself skipping days in a row. The conversation in my head goes something like this:

“You better put it on, as soon as a hot day comes, you will wish you had tan legs when you want to wear shorts or go to the lake…”

“It’s so much work, and it’s chilly today, I’m going to wear jeans so it won’t matter…”

 “Just put it on so you’ll be ready and won’t regret it in a few days…”

Ok, I know, I know…. It’s not like tan legs are an important part of life to begin with. And you can be sure there are way more important things on my mind, lest you write me off as an airhead who cannot think deeper than which color to paint her toe nails.

But sometimes it’s the little trivial things that paint a picture to bring a bigger issue into better focus. Being prepared. Being ready. With no regrets. Now this is an important part of life. Being ready is so much more than saying a prayer or making a decision. So much more.

Matthew 25 speaks of 10 virgins waiting for their bridegroom. All 10 were watching and waiting. All 10 had lamps with oil in them. But only 5 were wise and took extra oil in jars, very prepared in case the bridegroom was delayed. Verse 5 tells us the bridegroom was “a long time in coming” and all 10 virgins fell asleep.

The preparedness of the 5 wise can be seen in verses 6-7. When the bridegroom arrived at midnight, they arose, lit their lamps and went with him to the wedding banquet. The foolish virgins missed out. “And the door was shut.” The difference was in being prepared. The plans made for a possible long wait allowed the wise to be ready.

Jesus ends this parable with the words, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” There will be no time to prepare when He comes, we must be ready and remain so.

The Greek word gregoreuo is translated “watch”. It gives the meaning of watching, giving attention to, being cautious. So, tanned legs or not, gregoreuo, sisters! Let’s be prepared.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Announcing Another Litle Girl

What a new newborn does to a person! I’m in love. *sigh* Papa and I were able to spend almost a week with this new sweet-one when she was newborn.   Introducing Little Miss Alaya Jane . Isn’t. she. just. adorable? She’s my little Peanut. We’ve had 3 new granddaughters in the past 10 months – which makes a total of 5 little girls in 2 ½ years, and we are loving it! You can catch up on the first 4, Sweet Pea, Chickadee, Honey Bee, and Squirt, in the archives. (I'm having difficulty with linking to certain posts at the moment.) Oh, how the grace of God is so faithful! We have been reflecting on how proud we are of how our kids have grown to be adults who love God and married spouses who follow Him too. To see them start families and train their little ones to live to “make Jesus happy” – to put it in toddler terms. This leaves this Papa and Mama so happy… and humble. We weren’t perfect parents. We tried to be good parents, but often fell short. We are so thankf...

The Deisres Of My Heart

Whew! October…what a crazy month! It’s always a crazy month for me, requiring extra hours at work. Add to that having just moved to a new home and starting a children’s clothing shop with my girls… and this year October felt like a marathon! Not that I really know what a marathon feels like. Since I absolutely do not run. At all. But I can only imagine …. It feels good to have that crazy month over and turn a new page on the calendar. In my bible studying lately, I have become mesmerized by the Exodus. And the Wilderness. The Israelites were in bondage for 400 years. That’s a long time. Hard work that only got harder. Slavery that only got more oppressive. And then, in one evening, they were free. Free! What must that have felt like? No more harsh foremen. No more beatings. No more gathering straw. No more making bricks. Free. Take a deep breath…. Ahhh! That’s the smell of freedom. But like a new car, freedom doesn’t keep that new smell for long. They missed the good old...

Move Your Faith From Private To Public

Have you ever wondered about the Bleeding Woman in Mark chapter 5? While we are on the subject, I seriously think we should consider giving her a name, that’s not something anyone wants to be known as. Maybe we should call her the Woman of Faith... But back to the subject. Or maybe it is part of the subject now that I think about it. I’ll get to that in a bit. Instead of receiving healing and going on her merry way as I often do, she moved to a position of worship in front of Jesus. Her faith compelled her to go to Jesus for healing and her faith also compelled her to worship Him publically. I don’t mind God knowing about all my junk, but I don’t necessarily like anyone else to know. Are you with me? I tend to want to only show the good and keep the bad and ugly hidden away. Keep it just between God and I. To move in front of Jesus and publically worship for healing meant others would know her problems and that she needed healing. She opened herself up...