Lesson 293: "Can You See the Lights?"
We had to make an early morning trip to the doctor’s office, sixty miles from our home. The first fifteen miles the sun was casting its orange glow across the eastern sky and the next fifteen miles it slowly brought into sight a beautiful morning. Then suddenly a wall of dense grey fog fell and our speed was cut in half and visibility was almost nil. The dictionary’s definition of this phenomenon is; “a large mass of water vapor condensed to fine particles, at or just above the earth’s surface”. The secondary definition is; “a state of mental confusion”. I experienced definition #2 as I crept along the highway in the cloud of haze, my car’s “fog lights” causing tiny swirls before my eyes instead of lighting my pathway. The occasional on-coming traffic appeared to be floating, blurry lanterns, resembling the reported signs of UFO’s rather than something attached to a vehicle. I have traveled this same road for many years, with few construction changes so I was totally dependent on my prior knowledge to find my way to the city I was looking for. I knew it was in front of me but there was no stationary beacon to guide me and I was unable to see the familiar landmarks.
Perhaps God allowed me to be in this situation to remind me of several important points of the bible. God is Sovereign, doing whatever pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth; He causes vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth (Ps. 135:5-7). I also was reminded that I was just like the fog that engulfed me; just a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (James 4:14). We will run into patches of fog in our everyday life; times when the road signs have been moved; times when you have to detour; times when the guiding lights go out! These are the times we walk by faith (Heb. 11:1). Just as I remembered things about this much traveled road, we must remember the Holy Word we have been taught from childhood (2 Tim. 3:15). Travel the Scriptural path daily and the Spirit will bring to your remembrance all that you have read (John 15:26). This knowledge comes in handy when the old devil steals and/or destroys your landmarks (John 10:10).
There are many “guiding light” accounts in the bible. One of my favorites is the story of the Kingdom of Heaven Wedding Supper compared to the ten virgins who lit the way with lamps for the Jewish wedding party that we studied in our Sun. school class. Jesus Himself made this comparison in a parable, calling the five virgins who brought extra oil for their lamps wise and the five who were not prepared, foolish. The responsibility of the virgins with the lamps was to wait “prepared” for the shout that the bridegroom was coming. Then they were to go out with their lamps to light the way for the wedding party. Only five were prepared to keep their lamps burning as long as it took for the groom to arrive. The other five, the foolish ones, had to run out to buy oil and missed the wedding completely as the door was shut and no amount of “knocking” would gain them entrance.
Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven would be like this story. As with the young women in the parable, believers and unbelievers often appear very much alike. The difference will become apparent when Jesus comes for His followers. Just as the exact time of the groom’s coming was not known, the exact time of Jesus’ Second Coming is not known. “And at midnight there was a cry made; behold the bridegroom cometh” (Matt. 25:6 KJV)! There was a sense of urgency and anticipation; peering through the fog dimmed route, to catch a glimpse of the lights of the city that we knew was near. There should be the same sense of urgency and anticipation for Christ’s return because we know the time is near. We keep our vehicle battery charged and prepared in case we need to “burn the lights” longer than expected. The ten virgins did not know how long they would have to burn their lamps before the bridegroom arrived but only five kept their “battery charged”; their lamps trimmed; they kept watch and were alert at the midnight cry.
None know the day or the hour that Jesus will return but we know He will come again with a loud command; with the voice of the archangel; with the trumpet call of God (1 Thess. 4:16). Followers of Christ can and should look forward eagerly to this great day, anticipating with a sense of urgency at being accepted and welcomed into that new City (Rev. 21:2). By faith Abraham traveled toward a city whose builder and maker was God, knowing he was just a stranger on this earth as were all the Old Testament saints. We too are aliens in a foreign country; we too are looking for our native land and when the fog of life lifts, we will see the lights of that City God has prepared for us (Heb. 11:10-16, Rev. 21:2-23).
“Here among the shadows in a lonely land, we’re a band of pilgrims on the move.
Burdened down with sorrows, shunned on every hand, and looking for a City built above”.
Can you see the lights?
A city made of gold!