Matthew 25:1-9 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 5 Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
This parable was one of the Sunday readings and a small part of my pastor’s sermon. He pointed out that we, as Christians, may be tempted to wonder how the prudent virgins could be so uncharitable as to refuse to share their oil. He went on with his sermon, but my mind was stuck on the prudent ones who didn’t share their oil. I know it wasn’t that they were selfish, but I needed to settle in my mind what was going on here. I began to focus on the spiritual application and not look at it as a literal situation. Their flames provide light; we have the light of Christ. In the scriptures, oil often represents the Holy Spirit. The oil was the fuel for their lamps; our “fuel” is the Holy Spirit. We can share our light, the light of Jesus, with everyone we meet, believer and non-believer, but we can’t share our internal “fuel” from the Holy Spirit; that is something everyone has to accept and cultivate for themselves. No one can do it for them.
So when the prudent ones tell them to go buy oil for themselves, they are saying, “Go to the source and get your very own supply of Holy Spirit because I can’t give that to you. Holy Spirit only gives me enough oil for my lamp.” As much as we may want to give the Holy Spirit to others, all we can do is to continually cultivate our relationship with Him, our source, and keep our wicks trimmed so that our light shines as brightly as possible. Then hopefully, others will want to have that kind of relationship with the Holy Spirit themselves. The prudent ones weren’t selfish; they just knew that it wasn’t something they could give. Someone else may be able to light their lamp from your flame, but that flame will go out if it’s burning from their own oil of self-effort. You’ve probably seen people that get all “fired up” only to “burn out” a few weeks, months, or years later because they were doing things with their own strength and resources instead of allowing Jesus to live His life through them in the power of the Holy Spirit. But if they buy oil from the source and cultivate their own relationship with the Holy Spirit, they too will have a light that doesn’t burn out.
Therefore, if you are ever used by God to help light someone’s fire, be sure to let them know how to stay connected to the fuel source, the Holy Spirit, to keep the flame burning. And don’t forget to cultivate Your relationship with The Source continually.