不久前的一次痛苦经历，使我不禁记起耶稣的敦促：你们要警醒！那次，我开车去参加一个会议，途中有人从另一个方向闯红灯飞闯过来，直撞上了我的车，车子报废了，也让我第一次坐上了救护车。感恩的是，我伤得并不严重，四个小时后就出院了。
这件事让我想到，我们在世上的生命可能眨眼间就结束了。如雅各所说，我们的生命就像“一片云雾，出现少时就不见了。” (雅4:14) 事实上，我们不知道主再来的日子和时辰，也不知我们的生命何时结束。
耶稣的比喻中那五个愚拙的童女，不像五个聪明的童女那样觉得有必要做好准备。她们太晚才发现自己的灯需要再添加些油，而当她们买完油回到宴会厅时，新郎已经到了，门也关了。不管她们怎么恳求，回答都是“我不认识你们”。
我们每个人都会有离开这世界的一天，我们也会见到新郎，就是主耶稣。到时候唯一重要的是，我们是否藉着信靠祂并在地上事奉祂而预备好了？如果我们像那五个聪明的童女一样预备好了，我们也就可以同祂进去，享受婚礼的筵席。
主耶稣，当有一天，或是祢召我们回天家，或是祢再来的日子，求帮助我们都已经预备好。奉祢的名求，阿们。
马太福音 25:1-13
1“那时，天国好比十个童女拿着灯出去迎接新郎。
2其中有五个是愚拙的，五个是聪明的。
3愚拙的拿着灯，却不预备油；
4聪明的拿着灯，又预备油在器皿里。
5新郎迟延的时候，她们都打盹，睡着了。
6半夜有人喊着说：‘新郎来了，你们出来迎接他！’
7那些童女就都起来收拾灯。
8愚拙的对聪明的说：‘请分点油给我们， 因为我们的灯要灭了。’
9聪明的回答说：‘恐怕不够你我用的；不如你们自己到卖油的那里去买吧。’
10她们去买的时候，新郎到了。那预备好了的，同他进去坐席，门就关了。
11其余的童女随后也来了，说：‘主啊，主啊，给我们开门！’
12他却回答说：‘我实在告诉你们，我不认识你们。’
13所以，你们要警醒；因为那日子，那时辰，你们不知道。”
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." — Matthew 25:13
A while back I was painfully reminded of Jesus' urging to keep watch. While I was driving to a meeting, someone speeding along from the other direction ran a red light and crashed into my car, totaling it and giving me my first ride ever in an ambulance. Thankfully I was not seriously injured, and I was released from the hospi-tal after only four hours.
This made me think about how our life here on earth can end in a split second. As James puts it, our lives are like "a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14). And we don't know the day or the hour when the Lord will return or when our life on earth will end.
Unlike the five wise virgins in Jesus' parable, the five foolish virgins did not feel the need to be prepared. They discovered too late that they would need to go and get extra oil for their lamps, and when they came back to the banquet hall, the groom had arrived and the door was shut. No matter how much they pleaded, the answer was "I don't know you."
The day will come when each of us will have to leave this life. Someday we too will meet the bridegroom, the Lord Jesus. Then all that will matter is whether we have been prepared by believing in him and by serving him here on earth. And if we are prepared, like the five wise virgins, we too will be able to go in with him to the wedding banquet.
Lord Jesus, help us to be prepared when you call us home or when you return. In your name, Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
