“And the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10). Sadder words have never been spoken or written. There’s a certain finality about them.

 Jesus tells how 10 young women were invited to a marriage feast. Five were wise and five were foolish. The wise women showed their wisdom by planning for the possible delay of the bridegroom. They took extra oil for their lamps so they would be ready when he came. The foolish women neglected to do so, and while they waited all fell asleep. Suddenly at midnight, a cry went out that the bridegroom was coming. Immediately, the wise women got up and trimmed their lamps. On the other hand, the foolish women recognized that they were out of oil and asked to borrow some. “No!” said the wise, “there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealer and buy some for yourselves.”

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The Rev. Hal Brady is an ordained United Methodist minister and executive director of Hal Brady Ministries, based in Atlanta. You can watch him preach every week on the Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters TV channel Thursdays at 8 p.m.

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