What Are You Relying On, Oil or AI?
There is a scripture that warns us of the necessity of having oil in our lamps when the bridegroom comes:
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five werefoolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed,they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Matthew 25:1-13 (KJV)
As I thought about this scripture and weighed it against the signs of the times that we are looking at today, it brought to mind that the reason that the five foolish didn’t have any oil, is because they probably were relying on other resources.
When this parable was written, there were no computers, no AI, no voice memos writing down words on a page. Even though it was obvious that all ten were waiting on the bridegroom, five of them kept oil in their lamps, and five did not. Since there were no convenience stores at the time of this writing, perhaps this scenario indeed points to another time, like maybe – today? And maybe, just maybe the oil might be referring to the virgins who kept the Word of God in their hearts, so much so that they were prepared even though they slept. While the other virgins didn’t make time for the Word of God, instead they relied on available resources like Google and AI. Perhaps when the bridegroom made the call to come, the virgins who relied on the Word of God were ready – their senses were exercised by reason of use (Hebrews 5:14), whereas the five virgins who relied on other resources could not discern the approaching bridegroom having relied on the convenience of other resources to get them over. When the bridegroom called, they were ill prepared for his call.
O.K., so this is a made up scenario, but ask yourself have YOU been relying on the oil, i.e. the Holy Spirit, to get you through your day, or have you been relying on AI – something that sounds like truth, but takes no effort on your part, taking you far, far away from the muscles needed to effectively respond to God, at midnight?
A Selah Moment,
Maria