Ancient Bible World

“Everyone wants the oil for their lamp, but you’ve got to be willing to be the crushed olive first.”

Oil in the Bible always came at a cost. Here in Israel, it’s olive season. When you look at an olive fresh off the tree, it’s firm, bitter, and not useful on its own. But when it’s pressed, crushed under great weight, the oil flows out. That oil was used to light the menorah in the Temple, to anoint kings and priests, and to heal wounds.

It’s the same for us. Everyone wants the anointing, the fire, the light. But are we willing to go through the pressing? Are we willing to let the Lord refine us, break us of our pride, and purify our hearts so that His oil can flow through us?

The wise virgins in Jesus’ parable carried extra oil because they had prepared beforehand. They didn’t wait until the last moment. They knew the Bridegroom was worth the cost. The foolish ones wanted the benefit of the oil without the process of obtaining it.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ 

In these days, as the world grows darker, our lamps must be burning.. not with borrowed oil, not with secondhand faith, but with the oil that comes from intimacy with Him. That kind of oil is costly, and it comes from hidden time in His presence, from laying down our own will, from seasons of crushing where His Spirit presses us into something pure.

When the midnight cry comes, will we be found ready? Will our lamps be burning bright with oil that only comes through surrender?

The Bridegroom is coming. Stay awake. Stay filled. And don’t despise the crushing, for it’s in the pressing that the oil is produced, and it’s that oil that will keep your flame burning until He returns.

“Where faith and hope meet”

Nothing but Encouragement