Matthew 25:10

New International Version (NIV)

“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

For Meditation

I have read the book and watched the movie, but I have never considered how those who were left behind in the 2014 apocalypse movie felt, until my experience at the O’Hare Airport in Chicago on Tuesday, May 9, 2018.

I had landed from Newark Airport in transit to New Orleans to visit my five-month old granddaughter for the first time. My anticipation was high, and I couldn’t wait to board my connecting flight in Chicago. With an hour and a half layover time to endure, I went straight to the connecting gate, found myself a comfortable front seat view of the championship game between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Golden State Warriors, and dug into my Kentucky Fried Chicken meal. The game got interesting, and by the time I came to my senses, my flight was almost landing at the Louis Armstrong International Airport. As I sat through the cold Chicago night at the airport, I heard a voice mockingly saying, “Left behind!” I felt so awful.

1. Is this how it would feel to be left behind after the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)? Is this how Pastor Bruce Barnes felt when he was behind in the movie?
2. Why did he miss the flight to heaven? Why did I miss mine to New Orleans?
3. Did he get distracted by the delicacies of this world like I did with my Kentucky fried chicken meal at the airport; or was it the pleasures of the world, like I got absorbed by the NBA game that night?
4. Did Pastor Barnes think he had so much time that he forgot the essentials of faith, as Pastor Baafi thought he had time at O’Hare? Isn’t it pathetic that many people think the same way and forget how quickly time flies and takes away the opportunity to be with the Lord in heaven forever?
5. But, do you know that you must prepare for the reality of the Lord’s coming for His bride at the trumpet blast and the call of the archangel (16)? Didn’t Jesus tell us to prepare ourselves for His coming in the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 25:1-13)?

I pray you’ll not be like the five virgins who missed the opportunity to be with the bridegroom after all their wait for the occasion.

So: May you examine yourself to see whether you’re in the faith by testing yourself (2 Cor. 13:5); and may you stay alert and prepared for His coming, like the thief in the night, and not be left behind. The feeling will be awful, and the consequences, irreversibly devastating.

Shalom