Blog Post: The Cost of Oil, What the Parable of the 10 Virgins Teaches Us

“The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil.”
-Matthew 25:3-4 NLT

When I Ran Out Of Oil

The Lord showed me an important lesson recently, one that I was not expecting or ready for to be honest. Due to some health reasons, I use an essential blend oil everyday call ‘Purity’ that significantly alleviates my symptoms. The effects of the oil are so dramatic that if I miss a day applying it, I fall into a lot of pain and discomfort. It’s not ideal to be so reliant on an essential oil but nonetheless, it is the season I am in. 

I was recommended this oil by a friend when I told her about my health issues. I ordered it and when it came in and I tried it, I was shocked at the difference it made! As I was new to using an essential oil like that every day, I did not pay attention too much to its remaining amount as I used it. I foolishly assumed that because I was only using a few drops a day, that there was going to be more than enough left for a long time. So one day, I went to apply the oil and I realized I was all out! 

It was costly to run out of oil. All my pain and discomfort quickly returned and I scrambled to find a replacement. I tried ordering the oil on Amazon for quick shipping but this type of oil is a speciality oil and Amazon doesn’t do the best at taking care of their products in their warehouse. So when this oil got to me, it was already spoiled. I tried going to local places to buy another oil of similar ingredients but once again, this was a speciality essential oil blend so I could not anything to replicate this oil. So I was left to sit and wait for the (expedited) shipping from the main website to arrive. And let me tell you, that was the time I realized how important it was to never run of oil.

This story may seem insignificant at first but let me tell you, it carries a powerful lesson that the Lord used to teach me about the oil of His Spirit. 

The Lesson of the 10 Virgins

The parable of the 10 virgins recounts a similar theme of oil. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story of 10 bridesmaids who, as it was custom, were up late into the night waiting to welcome the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Five did not prepare properly and ran out of oil early into the night. Similar to me, they had to go out in search of buying more oil while the five who had properly supplied their oil waited well into the night for the bridegroom to arrive. Matthew 25:10 recounts:

“but while [the 5 bridesmaids] were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked.” 

The Lord is impressing upon me that we must individually be responsible for the oil Jesus asks us to carry. There is a cost if we do not. This oil cannot not be share corporately but each person must be vigilant of their own supply. Because similar to my story, the oil of the Holy Spirit cannot be quickly replaced – all we will find if we do try to quickly replace it is a counterfeit that is cheap and ineffective. 

Stewarding Your Oil

The oil of the Holy Spirit IS costly and it can only be bought through the individual intimacy with the Holy Spirit. That oil must be cherished and must always be accounted for and never allowed to be depleted. It cannot be carelessly wasted. Before I had this episode with my essential oil, I was careless in the times when I accidentally spilled a few drops here or there. But after this issue arose, I now carefully pour out my oil, never spilling a drop because I know how important it is. I have now become well acquainted with my oil levels, foreseeing long ahead of time when I started running low on my supply.

This too we must practice this in the Spirit. Our oil, our intimacy with the Lord, is precious and cannot be wasted. It is like the verse in Matthew 5:7, “do not cast your pearls before swine.” We must realize the moments where we are carelessly wasting the oil the Holy Spirit gave us on unmeaningful tasks or distractions that waste our time. We must be well aware of our own oil levels, knowing when our time with God is replenishing us and when the pulls of life begin to drain us to dangerous levels. Being aware of our oil levels helps us know when those “come away” moments with the Holy Spirit are needed, or if we are in a “go” season, building micro-moments throughout our day to fill up on God’s presence. 

God is gracious with us, if we miss it or like me, we run out of oil having not previously paid attention to it, He will always be there to resupply us. But just like my story, it does take time to do that. So we must learn now the rhythms of life where we are constantly filled up and never running out of oil