The parable of the virgins, given in Matthew 25, is one that most of us are familiar with. President Harold B. Lee has taught us that all ten of the virgins represent members of the church; President Spencer W. Kimball, that the oil in our lamps are acts of a spiritual nature that we perform to prepare ourselves for the Lord’s return. I’d like to elaborate a little bit on what we learned from President Kimball, in relation to a scripture found in Luke.
Luke 12:35 bids us to “let your…lights (be) burning.” We also read in Matthew 5:14,16 that “ye are the light of the world…let your light so shine before men.” We usually think of this as an inner light, a glow that makes our countenances radiant.
But that light of Christ can come only from doing the things to bring the Spirit into our lives, the same things President Kimball listed as necessary to filling our oil. He says: “In the parable, oil can be purchased at the market. In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures, each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity, these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps. (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p.256).”
As we read in Luke, we must keep our lights burning. Lamps don’t work without oil. Similarly, we cannot keep our spiritual lights burning without the oil of preparation. We must continuously keep our lamps filled, not just so that we are ready when the Savior returns to earth (although that is one wonderful reason), but also so that our lights may continue to shine.
By keeping that light shining, we not only create an example and a testimony to the world, we also illuminate the path we need to travel. As we keep the lamp full and lit, we can be guided and prompted by the Holy Spirit. In the hymn “Lead, Kindly Light”, we sing:
“Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.”
Although we often think of this light as coming from the Savior, we can receive it through obedience, by the light of the Holy Ghost. If we are disobedient, we quickly find ourselves in darkness, spiritually blinded.
We should take great care, then, to keep our lamps full of oil. We must replenish those drop each day, not only in preparation for the final coming of the Savior, but in order to keep our lamps lit so we might find our way home.
For other blogs on this week’s Sunday School lesson, click on the Gospel Doctrine link at right.
Related Articles:
Young Women: “Your Light-A Standard to All Nations”
Gospel Doctrine: The Faithful and Wise Servant