“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 ones, 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. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Matthew 25:1-13
With deep grieving over a brother in Christ that I barely knew about, I do know one thing, that Charlie Kirk had oil in his lamp.
In the bible, oil represents the Holy Spirit, God’s blessings, and consecration. The parable of the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom is a beautiful analogy of the coming of Jesus Christ. We don’t know when He is coming back, but our lamps should be filled with His oil, so that we are ready and that it won’t be late. How do we have oil in our lamp? By spending time in the secret place before the Lord in His presence, in His word, praying, worshiping, and keeping our gaze upon Him. As a side note, before even entering the secret place to keep His oil burning in our life, there must be repentance of sin, so that we can come before a Holy God with a pure heart, as ‘blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ (Matthew 5:8).
For me when someone dies close to me or not, the drive for intimacy grows, because out of the place, a passion for the lost grows as no one knows their last day. Thankfully, Charlie is with Jesus now, eternally, and not burning in hell. If we are truly living for the next life, then eternal treasures will be the only thing that counts in this life, for the next one. We have to remind ourselves regularly, that as foreigners and sojourners (1 Peter 2: 11), our true “citizenship” is in heaven, not on the earth. Thankfully, although Charlie Kirk did not know yesterday would be his last day, he had the oil ready in his lamp, so that when that suddenly moment came, he was ready to meet His King.
Which “virgin” do we represent right now? The wise or foolish? If you are not a true disciple, take this tragedy and know that your sin is separating you from God, and the only way to experiencing heaven on earth, is repenting and becoming born again. If you profess that you a Christian, the let Charlie Kirk’s death bring an acceleration into keeping your lamp burning with oil, so that you aren’t late for the eternal wedding banquet that awaits. We do not want his words to be, “I don’t know you”. Salvation is not a one-time prayer, but it’s a race that we run to win the prize for. May we always have His oil in our lamp ready, so that when the bridegroom suddenly appears, we are ready to meet Him face to face with full anticipation.
