But, of course, when class started, several students were shocked when I reminded them that we were having a quiz. Welcome to teacher life! Ha! After students finished the daily 5-minute writing prompt we do at the start of class each day, I told them they had three minutes to review the words one more time before I passed out the quiz. Would you believe that one of my students had the nerve to claim that three minutes was not near enough time for them to study? Of course he did! But, of course, I kindly reminded him that he’d had A WEEK to study and prepare for this not-that-difficult quiz. 

On the other hand, don’t worry, there are always those reliable students who stay on top of things and are ready to ace any pre-announced quiz in record time. While everybody else in the room is panicking, these students are calm, cool and collected. They listened to me remind them every day for a week, they studied, and they showed up on quiz day ready to easily excel. 

To be honest, sometimes I just want to laugh each time this situation plays out yet again in my classroom. It’s honestly kind of funny! Can you think of anything else I could have done to help my students be better prepared? Oh, that reminds me! I failed to mention that in this particular instance, one student had even made an online review game and shared the link with the entire class so her classmates could use the study tool she made to help them be set to go on quiz day. 

Let’s recap now, shall we? I provided all of the necessary information/material that would be on the quiz, I alerted them about the quiz a week in advance, I reminded them every single day leading up to it, and a student made a review game they could use to study and memorize the information. These students had everything they needed to succeed. And while some of them did succeed, others did not.

As I was driving to school one morning shortly after the quiz and reflecting on the absurdity of the situation from my teacher perspective, the parable of the 10 virgins came to mind. Do you know the one in Matthew 25? It says that 10 virgins took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. The only problem was, five brought plenty of extra oil for their lamps, and five didn’t. So when the bridegroom came, the five without oil were left in a conundrum. They didn’t have what they needed! They went into panic mode… First, they asked the others to share, which didn’t work out. The others wanted to make sure they had enough for themselves, and I don’t blame them! So, they went out to buy some. Unfortunately, the bridegroom made his appearance, and by the time they had returned, the door to the wedding banquet had been permanently closed. 

Just like my students sat in my classroom saying, What! Can we have a little more time to study?, even though they’d been told exactly what was coming, these virgins were maybe saying things like, What! But I didn’t know the bridegroom was really coming. Or maybe some said, Wait, we didn’t realize late arrivals would not be admitted. Or perhaps one of them may have been overheard saying, I knew my lack of purposeful planning would catch up with me at some point. Regardless of their comments and/or excuses, the outcome remained the same. They knew the bridegroom was coming, but even still, they were not ready for His arrival, and they missed out on glorious fellowship with him. 

The Bible has given believers plenty of heads up about the fact that Jesus is coming back to gather His own people and sweep them into His glorious presence. Check out these stats from Max Lucado’s book, “What Happens Next.” 

The Bible … makes almost five hundred references to heaven. The New Testament mentions the return of Jesus more than three hundred times—one out of every thirty verses! Twenty-three of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament describe Jesus’ second coming, and on some fifty occasions we were told to be ready. If quantity equates to priority, then life after this life is a crucial issue to God. 

That’s a lot of references to Jesus’ imminent return and a lot of details and information provided to the world in advance. Clearly this is important to God, and clearly He wants you to be ready. You will have no excuses when that day comes and Jesus returns. My students had no room for excuses… I had told them repeatedly when the quiz would be and exactly what would be on it. I’d given them all of the information they needed! Although Jesus hasn’t told us the exact date of His return, He has told us everything we need to know to be prepared for when He comes back for His church. Do you take His warnings and pleas for preparedness seriously? Or do you skim over them and dismiss them as inapplicable and non-urgent? A topic touched on that repeatedly throughout Scripture surely carries the weight of something we should read, study and respond to with utmost care and precision. 

If your curiosity is peaked, I encourage you to read Lucado’s book! …alongside the New Testament book of Revelation. Don’t be that person who claims ignorance on the day everything changes. When the date that’s circled on Heaven’s calendar arrives, Jesus will not be entertaining excuses and “explanations.” He will take with Him every person who is prepared. Will you be?