HER CANDLE GOETH NOT OUT BY NIGHT - Proverbs 31:18
Proverbs 31:18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
Jesus tells a parable where he describes the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom. Some of the virgins were wise and they took extra oil in case the bridegroom tarried while other virgins were foolish and did not have sufficient oil to wait until the bridegroom appeared. As a result, the foolish virgins were not prepared to meet the bridegroom when he eventually appeared.
Jesus Christ HIMSELF is the bridegroom that we are waiting for. We are his bride, the virgins that are awaiting HIS return. Jesus told us that no man knows the day or the time that HE will return and as such, we must be ready to wait. The lamps in this story are symbolized by our life. Jesus told us that we are to let our light to shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Heavenly Father.
If we are not careful, we can let our light diminish because of our failure to walk the Christian walk. If we allow the light of our life to diminish, then we are just like the foolish women who allowed their light to go out just before the bridegroom returned.
In the same way that a virtuous women does not allow her candle to go out by night, so too must we demonstrate our virtue by not allowing our spiritual light to be diminished by our trials and temptations. When we compromise our standards and allow ourselves to live a life apart from the power of God, we allow the light of God to be snuffed out of our life. If the world looks at you and does not see the light of God, then you have allowed the your light to be put out.
You think that no one will notice if you act like the world just this one time. However, Satan will never allow you to forget the time that you deliberately sinned and failed to obey God. Furthermore, Satan also knows how to use your time of weakness to be just the time when someone is looking at you. Satan will then attempt to use your lack of light to show them that they should not accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
In 2 Peter, we are told that we are to diligently add knowledge to our virtue. It is not enough to just desire to be pure and to live a life totally pleasing to the Lord. By taking the time each day to add knowledge of the words of God to our life, we enable ourselves to be strengthened by God so that we can live a life that enables our light to brightly shine for God.
We must be diligent to ensure that Satan is not able to point to the times that we were foolish as examples as to why Christians are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites. We need to be like the five wise virgins who properly prepared for the long wait so that they were ready when the bridegroom returned. Just as the five wise virgins took on extra oil, so too must we spend extra time in the word so that we are prepared for the long battles that we must face so that God is glorified by our lives.
If we do not take the time to prepare our lives for the trials and temptations that we face, then we are just like the foolish virgins and we will lose out on the rewards that God has in store for us. We know that trials and temptations will come our way, the question is, are we preparing ourselves today for the times that our light will be in jeopardy in the future? Are you wise or are you foolish? Are you preparing to faithfully serve God whether or not Christ returns in this life or are you just trying to see how little work you can do in hopes that Christ returns soon?