2026 Reading Plan Reflections - Day 40

“Therefore, keep alert, because you don’t know the day or the hour.”

Matthew 25 continues Jesus’ teaching on readiness—but He sharpens the focus. The question is no longer Are you watching? It becomes What kind of people are you becoming while you wait?

In these parables—the ten bridesmaids and the talents—Jesus exposes a dangerous misunderstanding: readiness is not passive, cautious, or inward-facing. Readiness is active, faithful, and outwardly expressed. The foolish bridesmaids were not condemned for lacking lamps—they had them. They were condemned for failing to keep them burning. The unfaithful servant wasn’t punished for rebellion, but for fear. He buried what was entrusted to him and called it prudence.

That matters because Israel had been given everything. The law. The prophets. The promises. The presence of God. They were entrusted with the light of the world—and instead of letting it shine, they guarded it. They reduced covenant into compliance. They prepared endlessly for a test while ignoring the call to live out the good news they had received.

Rules replaced relationship. Preparation replaced participation. Faithfulness was mistaken for restraint. And Jesus says, That is not readiness.

This strikes at the heart of holiness. Holiness is not about hoarding oil. It’s about staying aflame. Grace is never given merely to preserve us—it is given to transform us and to flow through us for the sake of the world.

In the parable of the talents, the most sobering line is spoken by the servant who did nothing: “I was afraid… so I hid your talent in the ground.”

Fear always masquerades as wisdom when faith grows thin. But the kingdom of God does not advance through risk management. It advances through faithful obedience. The servants who were commended didn’t create something new. They simply used what they were given. That is sanctification in action—grace received, grace exercised, grace multiplied.

Jesus is not asking whether we believe the right things. He is asking whether His life is being formed in us—and released through us. Readiness is not waiting with folded hands. It is waiting with open lives.

Check your oil—not your schedule. Ask honestly: What is sustaining my spiritual life right now? Busyness and religious activity are not substitutes for communion with God.
Identify what you’ve buried. What gift, calling, conviction, or responsibility have you hidden out of fear? Readiness means placing what God has given you back into His purposes.
Move from rule-keeping to love-shaped obedience. Holiness is not avoidance—it is availability. This week, choose one concrete act of love, mercy, or witness that stretches you beyond comfort.
Refuse fear-based faith. If your obedience is driven primarily by fear of getting it wrong, pray for courage. Perfect love casts out fear—not inactivity.
Pray to be formed, not just prepared. Pray nightly: “Jesus, shape my life in Your likeness. Let Your grace do its full work in me—not so I can be safe, but so I can be faithful.”