Topic: SIT DOWN TO BE INSTRUCTED – Bishop Mike Okonkwo Devotional 22 March 2023 The Redeemed Evangelical Mission

Topic: SIT DOWN TO BE INSTRUCTED – Bishop Mike Okonkwo Devotional 22 March 2023 The Redeemed Evangelical Mission

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SIT DOWN TO BE INSTRUCTED

“And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” Matthew 25:2-4 (KJV)

The wise virgins are the set of believers who don’t count themselves to have arrived. Just as Paul stated: “…I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,” (Philippians 3:13 KJV). The wise virgins kept on finding out from the scriptures: Who am I? What do I have in Christ? What can I do in Christ? What authority do I have? How do I navigate through this world with all the temptations? What does God require of me? What does God require now that I am saved?

When Paul encountered the Lord on the road to Damascus; he asked: “… Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” (Acts 9:6 KJV). After you are saved, you should sit down to be instructed.

The wise virgins who took oil are believers who follow instructions. When they were instructed to give, they gave. When they were told to pray, they prayed. When they were instructed to worship, they obeyed. When they were instructed to attend services, they attended. When they were instructed to get involved, they got involved. They deployed their gifts to serve the Lord’s agenda. They never held back at all. By so doing they were active! They were on fire! They studied the word and they loaded their spiritual magazine with the word. The wise virgins are those believers who are brutally standing in their reality in Christ, knowing they are in a war here on earth.

According to the scripture, the bridegroom came at midnight (at the unguarded hour), but five wise virgins were prepared and ready. They filled their lamps because they had extra oil. They have been taught the importance of having extra oil. But the foolish ones are those who refused to be in service and never heard such instructions, and when they heard, they did not take heed to it.