YOUR LAMP CANNOT KEEP BURNING ON ITS OWN
My soul, how much you need this—for your lamp cannot keep burning on its own. Without oil, the flame will die, and the wick will only smoke and give offense. You have no supply of oil within your human nature; therefore, you must go to the One who gives it, or else, like the foolish virgins, you will be forced to cry, “My lamp has gone out.”
Even the consecrated lamps in the tabernacle could not shine without oil. Though they burned in God’s holy place, they still needed to be supplied and trimmed. In the same way, you cannot shine, even under the best circumstances, unless fresh grace is continually given to you.
Not every kind of oil was acceptable in the Lord’s service. It could not be crude oil from the ground, nor oil from fish, nor even oil pressed from nuts. Only the finest olive oil could be used. In the same way, false grace—whether from human goodness, religious rituals, or outward ceremonies—cannot sustain the true child of God.
The Lord is not pleased with such substitutes. Instead, we must go to the olive press of Gethsemane, where our Savior was crushed, and draw our supply from Him. The oil of gospel grace is pure, without impurity or corruption, and the light it fuels is steady and clear.
The church is Christ’s golden lampstand, meant to shine in a dark world. But it cannot give light without holy oil. Let us pray for ourselves, our pastors, and our churches, that they may never lack oil for the light. Truth, holiness, joy, knowledge, and love—these are all beams of that sacred light. But we cannot show them unless, in private, we first receive oil from the Holy Spirit.
