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I could hear it, but I couldn’t find its source.
In the middle of the night, I was jolted awake by an alarm clock that I did not set…that I did not know was in my room, as it beeped rudely from its unknown location.
Wearily, I followed the sound, until I discovered it underneath my bed. It was sitting on a note from friends alerting me that they had intentionally interrupted my sleep.
Climbing back into bed, I hunkered down and drifted back to sleep quickly, but just as quickly was awakened by another alarm clock. As I stumbled from the bed, I realized that this familiar sound was coming from another part of the cabin. Alarm clock #2 was found (with note) in the coffee maker.
5 minutes later, clock #3 was found behind the couch. The fourth was in the shower, and #5 was inside of the vacuum cleaner bag.
When all was said and done, I spent over an hour chasing ten different alarm clocks as they systematically went off every five or ten minutes all over the cabin.
Earl, Josh, and Ben (three of the staff at the camp I was speaking at) had flawlessly executed their plan to taunt my sleep.
Could it be they just didn’t want me to make the same mistake that the ten ladies did in Matthew chapter 25?
In the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus shared about 5 who were wise and 5 who were not. Those wise were alert and aware that the guest of honor was going to come soon. Although they did not know how long he would take, with confident diligence they waited. Their lamps were trimmed; meaning their lives were ready for him to reveal himself.
But, there were five who were not wise. These had fallen asleep. Although the arrival of the guest of honor was imminent, they did not see the personal impact of his arrival, so they went about their business as if it were not a reality…and, when he did reveal himself, they were not ready. They were caught off guard and left out in the dark.
Perhaps the alarm clocks that my friends used to lead me on a nocturnal game of hide and seek were intended as a reminder to expectantly look for God to reveal himself as He promised He would.
Ya think?
No, probably not. Earl, Josh, and Ben were just bored one night and decided to play a prank on me. I would be giving them too much credit if I implied that they had spiritual reasons behind their actions…the clocks were intended to harass and irritate.
The game they were playing with me was meaningless fun (for them), but the purpose of Matthew 25 is much more. It is a reminder to live intentionally in relationship with Christ…because one day, the time will be right and he will return.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.”
I Thessalonians 4:16-18
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