When Jesus states the unpredictability of his return in the parable of the ten virgins, our death on earth will likely be unpredictable as well. And when our final day arrives, there will be no time left to “fill our lamps” with oil in preparation for eternity in heaven.

A danger with money is how it can divide us—as a society and certainly as parts of Christ’s body. Back in my "Jones Mania" days, I used to judge people who’d never make a first move toward anyone unless they were quite sure that the person was in a comparable financial bracket.

The outer impression of John the Baptist was not what drew crowds of people to him. It was his divinely gifted spiritual and emotional appeal that eclipsed his dress, eating habits and physical appearance. By separating himself from the culture and doing what God called him to do, he could speak with the zeal and clear language needed for the people to understand and respond to his urging to “make straight the way of the Lord.”

Whatever state of life we’re in: married or unmarried, happy or sad, powerful or weak, wealthy or poor, we must make the most of these states in the best way we know to serve and glorify God before the world in its present form passes away.