The Store Closed

Matthew 25:12 – “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.'”

He knew exactly what time the store closed. That was never in question. He had looked at the hours earlier that day, filed the information away, and then let the evening slip past anyway, one delay after another until the clock read closer to closing time than he had planned for. By the time he pulled into the parking lot, an employee was already at the door with the keys in hand. He made it to the entrance just as the lock turned, close enough to see through the glass, close enough to knock, close enough to explain that he only needed one thing and would be in and out in under two minutes.

None of that mattered. The employee looked at him, not unkindly, and said the store was closed. He had not misunderstood the hours. He had simply believed there would always be a little more time than there actually was, right up until there wasn’t any left. Standing at that locked door, he was not thinking about the item he needed anymore. He was thinking about every earlier moment that evening when getting there would have been easy, moments he had let pass without a second thought because closing time still felt far enough away not to worry about.

Jesus told a parable about ten virgins waiting for a bridegroom, five who kept enough oil for their lamps and five who did not, and when the five who ran out returned to find the door already shut, their explanation changed nothing. The bridegroom’s answer was direct. He did not know them. That is a hard thing to sit with, that a door which stood open for a lifetime could close at a moment nobody had marked on a calendar, and that pleading and good intentions at the threshold would not be enough to open it again.

Today’s Prayer: Lord, keep us from believing we have more time than we actually do. Help us respond to You now, while the door is still open. Amen.

Reflection Question: Is there something you have been putting off in your relationship with God, believing there will always be more time to deal with it later?