Better never Nate, Matthew 25:1-13

Better Never Nate

Matthew 25:10  But when they were on their way to buy oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

Here is a story with a familiar sounding ending, a moral to the story, if you will. I heard it many years ago when my elder brother used to teach lesson at Koinonia, a youth run Bible study. He can't remember it, so this is the best I recollect... (I am sure he had a shorter version)

There was a large and steep hill. On this hill was a large lever that, if thrown, would trigger the beginning of the end of the world. Perched high above the lever at the top of the hill was a rather large boulder. If the boulder would ever begin rolling down the hill, it would certainly hit the lever and trigger the end!

Nate was commissioned by all the people of the hill to warn them if the rock ever looked like it started to move. They had devised a complicated plan to knock the rock off course, and so save all mankind. So, Nate sat with earnest resolve, determined to fulfil his important yet arduous task.

He did quite well, at first. No matter the slightest wind or when sensing the slightest vibration, Nate responded by fixing his eyes on the enormous rock looking for any movement. But, the rock was so big and so heavy it never, in the slightest way, ever moved. Nate, over time, became apathetic, for no matter how much the wind blew or how much the earth trembled, the rock never even budged.

Yet, the day came when the earth began to rumble and move like never before. Certainly this was the day. The people of the hill knew that is was. They waited as before, but Nate never bellowed the call for help. Well, sadly that was because Nate wasn't paying attention, for he preoccupied himself with the pleasures life. Every other time nothing had happened, and this time would be no different, he thought to himself.

But, this time it was different. This time the rock did begin to move. The earth trembled like no other time, and the rock rolled straight down the hill toward the lever. The end would soon begin! As the earth shook Nate looked up. He knew that the people of the hill would not be able to get their plan enacted in time. So, Nate did the only thing he knew to do. He threw himself down in the path of the rock. And it was just in time. The rock bounce as it squished Nate and narrowly missed the lever and the world was saved from doom.

The moral of the story... when all other options fail, Better Nate than Lever.

K and A, Lets take it one step further. A better moral is Better Never Nate. It doesn't to be you. Like you, the people of the hill have been saved from destruction by the one who laid down his life for all mankind. Jesus took hit, and you can be free from the coming destruction. Be ready for his return. Fill you lamps, and bring along extra oil, for when the bridegroom arrives and the door closes behind him, you'll want to be eating the wedding meal along with him.

~Dad