This Week’s Video Lesson
Gather the entire family and watch the video lesson we have created for you focused on Matthew 25:13 “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
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High Five and Dive Resources
Use our High Five method as you work through this week’s lesson focused on the scripture from the reading block, Matthew 25:13 “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” Just click on the image to go to the resources or videos: Pray, Song, Video Lesson, Memorize, and Ask Questions.
Video Transcript Lesson
This week’s scripture comes from a parable called the ten virgins. This is a story about a wedding celebration. When Jesus was on earth, people celebrated weddings a little bit differently than we do now. In the Jewish tradition the man getting married was called a bridegroom. He would come at night to his bride’s house, the lady he was going to marry. When he would get close to the house, they would hear someone announce that the bridegroom was coming. The bridesmaids, or friends and family of the bride, went out into the night with their oil lamps to help light the bridegroom’s way to the house where they would celebrate the wedding. I think this is why there is an oil lamp in the bag.
This is an oil lamp similar to one that they have used when Jesus was alive. In order to see at night they used oil lamps. This is way before electricity or flashlights. In this parable the bridegroom represents Jesus coming again to earth and the bridesmaids represent us, members of the church of Jesus Christ. We are all invited to be ready for Jesus’s second coming, when he returns to earth. The oil lamps represent our faith and testimony, our purity and dedication, our good works, and our keeping of covenants. There are many ways we can build our faith and testimony of Jesus Christ. Let’s just talk about 6 more ways besides the 4 we already took out of our backpacks.
Let’s use this oil lamp to represent our testimony and each drop of oil will represent one of the 6 ways we can prepare for when Jesus comes again.
Spencer W. Kimball, who was the prophet when I was in primary said, “In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer… preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures — each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity — these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps.”
The first thing the prophet said to add a drop to our oil lamps is to:
- Go to church. We eat the bread and drink the water during the sacrament to remember Jesus, to renew our covenants we made at baptism, that means we repent and try again. We go to church to strengthen our testimony of Jesus Christ and learn how we can follow him.
- We add a drop when we fast on Fast Sunday. Once we are baptized, we are asked to go without food and drink for two consecutive meals, or about 24 hours. We take the money we would have spent on food for those meals and give it to the church. This helps bless other people that might not have food to eat. This money is called a fast offering.
When I was a child, my dad lost his job. We used all the food my parents had saved in our food storage and we still needed help to eat. I remember as a child going to the bishop’s storehouse in Los Angeles and helping prepare some of the fresh food, stock shelves in the store, and help. It helped me to see where the fast offering money goes and was a big blessing to our family when we were in need. I know as we sacrifice and fast, God can bless other children like he did me and my family. I know it can be hard to fast. It is hard for me, but I know that God blesses us when we do hard things. He will help us. Pray for help, get your parents to help you fast, and you will see miracles happen. Elder Shayne M. Bowen said, “After 24 hours without food or drink, the body (the natural man) submits to the spirit (the spiritual man). When the spiritual man is victorious, we experience greater sensitivity to the influence of the Holy Ghost.” That is an incredible blessing!
- The next drop is to love others. The first and second commandments teach us to love God and love our neighbors. Did you watch our Easter Hunt videos where we talked about this commandment? If not, check it out. We made these heart wreaths and talked about ways we can show love to others. This makes Jesus very happy when we love others.
- The next drop is tithing. Tithing is when we take the money we earn and give 10% to the church in a tithing envelop. This helps build and maintain temples and church buildings, support missionary work, educate Church members, and carry on the work of the Lord throughout the world. My mission president, Dean M. Davies was in the presiding bishopric with Elder Stevenson before he became an apostle and Bishop Causse. The presiding bishopric is similar to the bishop in your ward, but they help the entire world, not just a ward. Here is a short video of him talking about tithing.
I am so grateful to have learned so much while serving a mission with President Davies and his wife. They helped me add many drops of oil into my lamp while serving in Puerto Rico.
- The next drop of oil is keeping or obeying God’s commandments. As we keep God’s commandments we can be happy, we can feel peace. There is a short primary song that I have always loved as a child. It is called “Keep the Commandments.” Let’s sing it together.
Great job singing!
- Our last drop of oil is to keep our covenants or to stay on the covenant path. Getting baptized is the first step on the covenant path. As we keep repenting and keep doing the things we just talked about that adds drops to our oil lamp. It helps keep us on the covenant path back to heaven.
As we keep our covenants and stay on the covenant path we bind ourselves to Jesus so that when he comes again we are ready to meet him with our oil lamps bright this builds our testimony of Jesus Christ.
Your testimony just like we learned about with our T-machine.
Our testimonies are personal; these are the things we know to be true. Boys and girls each of us must grow our own testimony of Jesus Christ. In the parable of the ten virgins there were 5 foolish virgins and five wise virgins. The foolish ones had a lamp but no oil. They didn’t add drops of oil throughout their life. They were not prepared to see Jesus. The foolish virgins wanted to borrow from the wise virgins, they said, “Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, “Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.”
Were the wise virgins not kind in sharing their oil? President Kimball said, “This was not selfishness or unkindness. The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable. How can one share obedience to the principle of tithing; a mind at peace from righteous living; an accumulation of knowledge? How can one share faith or testimony? How can one share attitudes or chastity, or the experience of a mission? How can one share temple privileges? Each must obtain that kind of oil for himself.”
Friends, fueled by our faith, we grew, work, and follow Jesus, we use our agency to choose Him! Our choices and actions can’t be given to someone else, we can be a light to help others but the drops of oil must be done by each of us.
The parable continues. The scriptures tell us that, “while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”
Then we come to this scripture again, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” Jesus is warning us to “watch.” To get ready, be prepared, follow him. We don’t know when he will come. It says, “for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh.” We must always be prepared.
We can be ready for when Jesus comes again as we choose to add drops of oil to our oil lamps through righteous living.
As the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants says, “Be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom.”
I know Jesus will come again. I know as we follow the prophet and study the scriptures, we can know what we can do to add drops of oil to our lamps. I know God loves you and he knows you can do it. You can follow Him. You can be like the 5 wise virgins and be ready for when Jesus comes again.
