Once there were ten virgins
They were all very chaste,
All were highly moral
But five became a waste.
Five virgins were self-righteous
While five accepted God’s grace,
These five lived at wisdom’s gate
The other five were the other place.
All had oil in their lamps
And walked the Christian way
But not all had oil in store
Just in case there was a delay.
It is most difficult at times
To tell the difference between
Those who are really royalty
And the real king and queen.
And so it was with these virgins
As they walked along the way
But like the wheat and the tears
Were separated on harvest day.
Five to me were professors
And really lived for the show,
Their lamps were shining brightly,
What a luminous glow!
They shone for the world to see
On light they themselves had powered
And only too late they realized
When it ran out before the hour.
The wise virgins on the other hand
Had oil on which they could depend
So that when the bridegroom came
Theirs was the desired end.
I liken the foolish virgins
To many avid churchgoers
Who dot their eyes and cross their “T’s”
But were never really insiders.
That’s a peculiar word I’ll admit
But let me explain what I mean
Since a number of denominations
Can’t get past this initial scene.
There must be an initiation
Of the believer into Christ,
There must be an appreciation
For his atoning sacrifice.
But often people come to church
As the answer to their plight
But the idea of being born again
Is never within their sight.
Take Nicodemus for example
He was a teacher of the Jews
But the born again experience
Was not even within his view.
Yet he walked like a believer
With his lamp trimmed and bright
But no oil for the complete journey;
It wouldn’t last through the night.
The self-righteous oil in our lamps
Is not nearly sufficient,
We need the oil of the Spirit
That is abundant and efficient.
You see at the point of salvation
The oil of the Spirit comes in,
It is really at this juncture
That we are cleansed from our sin.
This is the initiation into Christ
To which I earlier alluded,
Without this oil in the inner man
Such a one will never be included.
This is where the virgins differ
As to they being wise or foolish,
They that had more oil than in their lamps
Were the ones that got their wish.
The ones who felt their oil was enough
Clearly suffered in their cause,
None of us will make it into heaven
If we merely keep God’s laws.
That being the mission impossible
Was what Jesus came and achieved
To make the impossible possible
And now salvation all can receive.
We need not walk as the foolish
We can now walk as the wise
With oil in our lamps and in storage
Lest that day take us by surprise.
I don’t think the virgins were all saved
They were neither saved nor safe,
With oil only in their lamps they were lost
Never an insider in the first place.
Insiders are born again
And are indwelt by the Holy Spirit,
He is the oil that really matters
Not the show that comes from habit.
The Pharisees were very adept
At keeping their light ablaze
But when Jesus stopped then in their tracks
They were utterly amazed.
Their light was only counterfeit
And had simply misled a lot
Who without the genuine light of Christ
Could not their own error spot.
Such are today’s foolish virgins
Only catering to the here and now
Satisfied the oil in their lamps is sufficient
And will get them over somehow.
If this is how you are thinking
From such disabuse your mind,
Not even your religion can save you
If you follow this foolish kind.
Ensure you are Holy Spirit powered
Accept Jesus into your life,
A mere walk without Christ as Saviour
Is the recipe for eternal strife.
Stewart Russell © June, 2017
