Gospel Reflections #524: Full of Zeal and filled with the Holy Spirit

Matthew 25:1-4 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be likened to this: 'Ten virgins will go out to meet their bridegroom. Ten maidens go out to meet the bridegroom, each carrying a torch. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The foolish maidens had a fire, but they had not prepared oil. The wise maidens had oil in a jar along with their own torches."

This parable reminds us of the question of readiness. After this word, we read that because the bridegroom was late in coming, they all dozed off and went to bed.

And there were two kinds of reactions to the voice that cried out, "Come, come, the bridegroom, in the middle of the night, come out to meet him.

The "lamp" in the Word is said to be "the Word of God" or "the light of the world," and the "oil" is said to be "the Holy Spirit.

The people represented by the foolish maidens are not hypocrites, but people who are concerned with the mind, who defend the truth, who are attracted to those who believe in the truth, but who have not given themselves over to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit seems to me to be accepting, receiving, and immediately responding to what He leads and reminds us to do.

It is said that foolish maidens are short-sighted, reacting to what they see and feel and following their own thoughts and decisions.

To surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit is to believe in God's promises, to wait with hope, and to seek guidance so that we can choose God's will, always comparing what we see and feel with the Bible.

We human beings are creatures who want to do everything ourselves, and we cannot be spiritually prepared unless we seek daily to be guided by the Holy Spirit.

We should let God prepare us by training us daily to be ready to surrender the driver's seat in the middle of our hearts to the Holy Spirit.

We want to surrender to the Holy Spirit as soon as possible.

God has not given up on us. Let us seek to surrender to the Holy Spirit without giving up!