Little Miss Late - Roger Hargreaves
Late for this. Late for that. Little Miss Late was late for everything! She spent last Christmas at home at Earlybird Cottage, but it was on January 25th—one month late! Last year she went for her summer holiday in December. You and I know December is in winter. She was in her garden when Miss Neat passed by, and they agreed to go shopping together the next day. “Meet in town on the corner of Main Street at two o’clock”, said Miss Neat. “I’ll be there”, replied Miss Late. The following afternoon Miss Neat was on the corner of Main Street at two o’clock. She waited and waited and waited some more. Then Miss Late arrived. “Sorry I’m a bit late”, she apologised. “Sorry?” cried Miss Neat. “A bit late? It’s five o’clock and all the shops are shut. Miss Late got a job in a bank but arrived when they were closing and she was asked to leave. The same happened when she went to work as a waitress. In everything that she did she was always late and spoiled the event for others. She didn’t try to find out how she could change.
And here we have our fundamental human truth—we don’t prioritize what is important.
In the Bible in the book of Matthew chapter 25 and verses 1 to 13 we read of ten young women waiting to escort a bridegroom into a wedding feast. Unfortunately, the bridegroom was a long time in coming. Five of the young women found their oil was low and asked the others to share some of theirs so that their lamps wouldn’t go out but sadly, if they had done that, there would not be enough to go around. The ones who had not brought an extra supply of oil went into the town to buy some to top up their lamps. Regretfully, while they were away, the bridegroom arrived and they missed the whole event—no second chance. It was good that the wise women had brought extra oil and were there to celebrate the wedding banquet.
In the early 1970s most electricity in the UK was produced by burning coal. Due to industrial action by several groups because of pay increase restraints, coal supply became very restricted.
To conserve coal the government introduced what was known as the 3-day week.
Most companies were only allowed to use electricity on three consecutive days. This also meant that there could be random power cuts for the general public.
Our home was all electric, so when this became known I made a point of immediately travelling from Irvine to Glasgow to obtain a gas-powered double picnic stove. When I got there, I was able to buy the last stove in the store. This meant that when the power cuts did take place, which could be quite lengthy, I was able to cook meals. I was also able to help out neighbours by such things as warming baby’s bottles if needed.
This put me in the same position as the five wise young women. I was prepared for the situation.
Now what Bible truth can we learn? Jesus tells us what is important. One day Jesus will return to this earth—it is called the Second Coming. He will take every believer who is left on earth at that time back to be with Him in heaven for ever. But we need to prepare for this. First of all, the person must repent of his or her sin (say sorry and turn their ways around), trust Jesus as Saviour, and live in obedience to God. Then they are prepared for the time when Jesus comes.
In the book of Hebrews 3:15 it says,
“If you hear God’s voice today, do not be stubborn.” Prepare yourself to follow Jesus.
Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. Mark 13:33
Comments