Come to Jesus

In my former working life, I experienced on several occasions exposure to the civil court system. This of course brought me into contact with some very talented lawyers. One very capable young man once used an expression that really made me stop and think. I was a brand new baby Christian at the time.

He said to me that if the other side in a lawsuit wouldn’t capitulate, he would have to call a “come to Jesus meeting”. What he meant of course was that he would call the other side in along with legal counsel and explain to them what they must do and the consequences for not doing so. He was equating in an irreverent way their need for Jesus to their need to listen to his argument. If they would not accept his ideas, like they should accept Jesus, there would be consequences, just as there would be for not accepting Jesus in their lives. To him the expression was an irreverent attempt at humour. To me it was actually, despite its irritating irreverence, a rather clear statement.

Much of the ministry of Jesus while he was on this earth was spoken in parables. One of my favourites is the parable of the ten virgins found in the first 14 verses of Matthew Chapter 25. The ten virgins who represent in the parable those who should “come to Jesus”, in other words all of us on this earth, are awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom who of course is Jesus. Five are ready with their oil in order to light their lamps and join Him for the wedding and five are unprepared and must go out and buy oil upon His arrival. When they return from their late night shopping, they find the door shut to them with the bridegroom telling them that “I do not know you”. (Matthew 25:12)

The five prepared virgins of course are those who have accepted Jesus on this earth before their eventual death or His return to this earth in order to gather in His own believers. They have made the necessary declaration and live like they have. The Holy Spirit is within them. They are true believers. The unprepared five have only reacted when they actually see Jesus. It is too late to believe at that point.

Have you ever been invited to a “come to Jesus meeting”. Have you attended? Has the importance of coming been explained to you? Have you listened to the consequences of not coming to Him? Are you waiting to be more convinced?

Jesus, in the parable of the ten virgins, was telling us very clearly that we must be ready at any given moment to meet Him. I cannot think of a higher authority than the actual words of Jesus. We must believe. We must accept Him as our Lord and Saviour. We must confess our sins to Him and repent of our sins the best way we can.

We must have our oil ready for our trimmed lamps.

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