Walmart is bringing the hammer down on late truckers. They have told their suppliers to deliver on-time and in-full (OTIF) 98% of the time or else be fined. Suppliers have become used to a 70% (OTIF) standard. Lateness is a scourge of our time. We expect others to be on time for us but being 15 minutes late is something we expect others to allow without fuss. Jesus’ parable of the 10 bridesmaids in Matthew 25 is a cautionary tale warning against lateness due to unpreparedness. Five of them ran out of lamp oil. They couldn’t be helped by the other five (none of them would have been ready for the bridegroom if they did), so, for the lack of a spare flask of lamp oil, despite coming back with more oil and banging on the closed door, they heard these final words from the bridegroom, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you” (Mt.25:12). Our 21st century minds recoil at such harshness. We complain, ‘Why didn’t the bridegroom just let them in?’ or ‘Hasn’t he ever been held up due to circumstances?’ and ‘I thought Christians were supposed to be kind?’ Jesus gives the point of the story in his closing statement: “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” The devil has convinced most people that Jesus doesn’t have to be taken at his word. Imagine reducing the warnings of Christ to something equivalent to those of an indulgent uncle who will ultimately buckle and say, “I shouldn’t let you in, you know. But quick, come in then. Boys will be boys.” I wish I was exaggerating. It might shock most Christians to realise that their present state of preparedness is their actual state of preparedness for Jesus’ return—remember, he will come suddenly! Late-comers need not knock.
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