"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold your house is left unto you desolate" (Luke 13:34-35a).

    The people of Christ’s day had their opportunity.  Jesus preached the gospel, healed the sick, performed miracles and was anointed of the Father in such a manner that there should have been no question about who He was.  But people still rejected Him.  They had their day of visitation, but now their house was left unto them desolate.  Time ran out for Jerusalem because they rejected the Lord of Glory.

    God gives us our day of visitation.  He deals with hearts through His Spirit and through His Word.  Our lives, which are as a vapor, will quickly vanish away. Time runs out as it did for the rich man and for Noah’s congregation.  Time runs out much quicker than we anticipate.  Our journeys seem to come to an end abruptly.  Even for those who live past the expected years, still they are not always ready for their time to end.

    Jesus told a parable about ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).  They were waiting for the bridegroom to come.  Five of them were wise and five were foolish.  The wise had oil in their lamps, but the foolish did not.  They all knew they needed oil. They all had opportunity to buy it.  But the foolish allowed the opportunity to pass by.

    Suddenly, at the midnight hour, the cry was made, "Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him."  The foolish virgins realized the seriousness of their dilemma.  They began to beg for some of the wise virgins' oil, but there was none to spare.  The five foolish virgins rushed into town in a last minute effort to get the needed supply of oil.  But it was too late.  Their dilemma was: not only had they run out of oil, they had also run out of time.

    The foolish virgins returned to the Bridegroom and pleaded to be allowed to go with him to the marriage.  But the door was shut, and time had run out.  The wise virgins had paid for the oil they possessed, while the unwise had not been willing to pay the price.  The foolish would rather spend their time and money on other things to satisfy their desires.  Carrying that little bottle of oil around did not allow them to live as fancy-free as they wanted to.  And, after all, they still had plenty of time.  But their time ran out.

    Jesus is coming back again, and now--at this moment--there is still time to make things right with God.  Are we also running out of time to do anything about eternity?  Yes, time will run out for all of us someday.  Will we have our treasure on the other side?

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"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal," (Matthew 6:19-20).