My 6-year-old daughter has a friend at school that she just adores.  His name is Eli.  Eli’s feelings for Haven are mutual.  They have a wonderful friendship that is magnetic.  They are drawn to each other and love to be together anytime they can.  They are only 6 and so so very innocent.  Eli’s mom and I are good buddies too, and our approach to Eli and Haven is that this is innocent, so don’t make it something it’s not.  We don’t call them boyfriend/girlfriend.  We don’t make a big deal when they hold hands and run.  We just let it go, because we feel strongly about not making mountains out of mole hills and because they are young enough to be innocent friends.  We’re secretly planning a wedding, but they don’t need to know that.  They will figure out soon enough that boy/girl friendships can be complicated, but no need to saddle them with something that they are too small to carry.  For now let them be innocent.  If you ever say anything to them about being boyfriend/girlfriend, we’ll have to bop you on the nose.

Enter Bria, my 4-year-old daughter.  Since Eli’s mommy and I are buddies we’ve started doing things together with all our kids.  We have a tribe between us.  8 in all.  So now Haven’s world is intersecting with Bria’s world.  Bria is the diva.  The princess.  The drama mama.  Of all my 4 girls she takes the cake in bling, pizzazz and personality plus.  She’s witty and funny.  She’s the one all the boys are going to fall in love with and she will break their sweet hearts.  Bria is smitten with Eli.

So far this potential love triangle is working just fine.  Haven holds one hand and Bria the other.  Again, this is innocent.  The girls will learn soon enough that sisters don’t share boyfriends.  But not yet.  For now it’s sweet and cute.

Eli and his siblings came over to visit us this weekend.  They stayed for several hours and they all played together so well.  Loving life.  Before Eli was even out of the drive way from the play date Bria wanted to know when Eli was coming again.  I told her we would see him for Bible study the next day.  So Bria goes to her room and pulls out all her clothes and finds all the necessary components to get fully dressed and lays it all out so she will be able to get dressed first thing in the morning since Eli is coming.

The next day I get the question fourty-eleven times, “When is “Ewi” going to be here?” Bria woke up early, got dressed with all she laid out and began to watch for Eli.  She loves him and she can’t wait to see him, so she is anticipating his arrival.  Haven loves him too, but Haven flies by the seat of her pants, her head is in a fog and she’s doing her own thing, distracted by her toys and tv and her own agenda.  When he finally shows up she’s like, “Oh, Eli is here”.

What does this remind us of?  Remember this passage in Matthew 25?

Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids

25 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids^[a] who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, ⁴ but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. ⁵ When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’  ⁷ “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. ⁸ Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’  ⁹ “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. ¹¹ Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’

¹² “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’  ¹³ “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.

We forget that the Bridegroom (our glorious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ) is returning for his Bride (The Church).  We forget this don’t we?  If we remembered, then we would be watching and we would be ready.  Living “ready” means we would be busy accomplishing kingdom work instead of being distracted by our stuff and living as though we have all the time in the world.  If we were watching then we would be anxious to spend time with the Lover of our Souls.  If we were living “ready” then when difficult or hard things came our way we wouldn’t act as though it were the end of the world or that we were somehow being mistreated, we would recognize the temporary nature of this world and endure with the hope that the Bridegroom is coming.

If we were living ready, then we would live in hope and anticipation instead of drudgery and defeat.  Our Bridegroom would be forever on our mind.  We would long for his arrival and would spend time in His word at every opportunity.  We would be a joy to be with and be around.  So keep watch friends and live in the hope that our Bridegroom will soon be here and we will feast together at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!  There will be no more pain.  No more grief.  No more tears when our Lord arrives.  The world will be right when our Bridegroom shows up.

Keep watch!