"I wanna have slow feet, slow plans, steadfast in patience. Rid me of my quickness, I'll be soon to listen".
It seems as though the slower I go, the faster I arrive" 1 . No matter how seasoned we become in our walks with Jesus, understanding that He is in the business of flipping the expected upside down does not come naturally. These lyrics, the idea that the slower we go, the faster we would arrive is just that; upside down.
No matter how seasoned we become in our walks with Jesus, understanding that He is in the business of flipping the expected upside down does not come naturally.
Last year when studying for a retreat with my high school bible study girls, the idea of "oil" was impressed on my heart. Matthew 25:1-13 speaks of this oil in the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids. Or as I like to call it; A Lesson in the Importance of Diligence. A parable that speaks to why our slowness and steadiness is indeed a holy kind of work. A work that deeply matters. A work that arguably has the most of eternal impact. A work that seems slow but clears the way to our ultimate arrival.
In the parable there are ten bridesmaids; five of which are called wise and five which are called fools. I think it's worth noting that they are not referred to as good or bad; because it was not their outward behavior that was of the matter. Instead they were separated by the unseen. The very tending to the position of their hearts which can only be done on the inside. The bridesmaids are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive so the stage of marriage in the Jewish wedding can take place. In this parable, he seems to be delayed and it is approaching midnight. The bridesmaids are tired and their initial lamp's oil would be running low.
"I wanna have slow feet, slow plans, steadfast in patience. Rid me of my quickness, I'll be soon to listen". It seems as though the slower I go, the faster I arrive" 1 . No matter how seasoned we become in our walks with Jesus, understanding that He is in the business of flipping the expected upside down does not come naturally. These lyrics, the idea that the slower we go, the faster we would arrive is just that; upside down.
No matter how seasoned we become in our walks with Jesus, understanding that He is in the business of flipping the expected upside down does not come naturally.
Last year when studying for a retreat with my high school bible study girls, the idea of "oil" was impressed on my heart. Matthew 25:1-13 speaks of this oil in the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids. Or as I like to call it; A Lesson in the Importance of Diligence. A parable that speaks to why our slowness and steadiness is indeed a holy kind of work. A work that deeply matters. A work that arguably has the most of eternal impact. A work that seems slow but clears the way to our ultimate arrival.
In the parable there are ten bridesmaids; five of which are called wise and five which are called fools. I think it's worth noting that they are not referred to as good or bad; because it was not their outward behavior that was of the matter. Instead they were separated by the unseen. The very tending to the position of their hearts which can only be done on the inside. The bridesmaids are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive so the stage of marriage in the Jewish wedding can take place. In this parable, he seems to be delayed and it is approaching midnight. The bridesmaids are tired and their initial lamp's oil would be running low.
It seems as though the slower I go, the faster I arrive. Jesus is coming and in a relative sense of the word; soon. Our hearts must long to be rid of our urgency to do and be overwhelmingly concerned with the slowness of being. We must know that as upside down as it may seem, it is this very slowness; the diligence of cultivating an intimacy with Christ that will in fact lead us to an arrival with less delay. Instead of having to return back to try to gain more oil we would be found to be among the wise; and in His mercy, walk straight into the richness of our bridegroom's return for our reserve of oil is full.
