Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality (Romans 12:9-13, RSV).

I must admit that I have difficulty memorizing scripture. I don’t typically botch up the verse completely as I am almost always able to retain its meaning, but I’ll sometimes substitute a word or leave a portion of a sentence out. Sometimes I’ll even forget where in the Bible a verse once committed to memory is located; I admire people who can rattle off verse after verse, even citing entire chapters!

As a young believer, I remember trying to recite the above scripture and having a difficult time committing it to memory. What helped was to memorize the verse with someone else and that person was a young woman by the name of Linda. Linda and I were part of the same high school graduating class, meeting each other when we were part of the same group of zealous young Christians who desired to memorize scripture and share the Good News with everyone. After much effort the verses stuck and some thirty years later they still come back to mind.

I’m not sure why we chose the five verses mentioned in Romans 12, maybe because memorizing the entire chapter was daunting. Still, these particular verses provide excellent instructions for how the Christian should live, advice we’d all do well applying to our own walk.

To this day there are several points in these memory verses which I try to recall as I go about my life:

Genuine love — Oh, how much I fall short in this area! It is easy to love those who love you, but even the heathen do that. Instead, hating evil means just that: hating the sin, not the sinner while clinging to what we know is right and good. We can’t expect those who walk in darkness to shine a light, right?

Affection and honor — Our sexed up world has no idea what the former means and it seems that the latter has fallen out of favor. Still, genuinely caring for our brethren and striving to be honorable in all matters are two attributes worthy of practicing.

Be zealous — We American Christians are cooling off.  Many Christians today are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — and at risk of being tossed out of God’s mouth.  I still see a lot of youngsters on fire for the Lord, but that is something us “mature” believers can be too. Let’s leave our comfort zones and take some God-inspired risks!

Rejoice! — No matter what we we’re going through, we’re to have a thankful heart to God. These “momentary light afflictions” will soon pass and our burdens can be eased by regularly approaching the throne of grace with our praise, prayers, and petitions.

Help others — The last verse has always stuck out in my mind. Though it is good to help sinners when so afflicted, Paul is telling the church to help other believers. I certainly am a supporter of missionary work, but I never want to see my brothers and sisters neglected. Oftentimes this means that I can do something personally to lift their burden and being hospitable is a good start!

God, through Jesus Christ, has given us all that we need to live godly lives. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can do as the young church did: turn the world upside down and carry His Message to the uttermost. But first, let us practice loving each other a clear demonstration to this world that the redeeming power of Jesus Christ is real.

Photo Credit: Sophie

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

” ‘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.’

“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.

“Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

“But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

I am not a theologian, but there is one thing that I can say without a doubt about this passage — being properly prepared for a task at hand is essential. In this case, being prepared for the Lord’s imminent return is the most important thing you can do in this life.

The lamp represents God’s word (light) and God’s Spirit (oil) while the virgins are professed believers and the bridgegroom is Jesus Christ. Those who love the Lord will make certain that they are ready for His return, by reading their Bibles, praying, and watching (observing and understanding the events of this day as they unfold).

You cannot truly call yourself a Christian if you do not have communion with the One who made you — My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27). Listening comes from reading God’s word and by allowing Him to speak to you through a particular passage. Sure, God can also speak to your heart throughout the day, but you must test that spirit by making sure what you hearing lines up with the word of God and is from God.

Most definitely, there are Christians in this world who have little to no access to the written word. Here in the US, we do have the word therefore, “…to whom much is given, from him much will be required…” (Luke 12:48)

How often should we read God’s word? More often than not! Of course, anyone can read the Bible, but only God can illuminate the text for clear understanding. Regular, consistent reading is a must — a chapter a day is a good place to begin.

I’m sharing this with everyone who has a heart for God and who wants to be prepared for what lies ahead. It doesn’t take much to realize that the world is in precarious shape and the church is collapsing under the assault.

We don’t have to be overwhelmed by the tide of evil now being lifted up before us. In fact, God will deliver us. Our duty is to stay in His will and we can only know His will by keeping our lamps trimmed and burning.

Don’t be like the five foolish virgins who realized after the fact that they needed to get prepared to meet the bridgegroom. In tht day many will say, “Lord, Lord” but He’ll say to them, “I never knew you.”