Daily Reading: 2 Kings 4
Go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside. (2 Kings 4.4)
Devotional Thought: In 2 Kings 4, a widow of one of the prophets was in serious trouble. Her sons were to be sold as slaves to satisfy an unpaid debt. The solution God shared through Elisha was unheard of: “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few.” She was then to pour oil from the single jar she had into all these borrowed vessels. It worked! She followed God’s instructions implicitly and was able to get out of debt and rescue her sons from slavery!
Several lessons from this brief story...
· Am I willing to follow God’s instructions implicitly? Where do we get them? The Bible, of course! Someone once came up with the acronym “B.I.B.L.E.” Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. The Bible is not that hard to understand, but it is getting harder and harder to follow in this day of political correctness.
· Am I desperate enough for God that I will “go in and shut the door” until God answers prayer? Our sons and daughters are worth it, are they not? The generation coming up will be sold into the slavery of sin unless we prevail in prayer! And, the home is the best venue for teaching them the ways of the Kingdom.
· Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. When we lack the oil of the Holy Spirit, we are powerless and ineffective. In this story we see a tension between personal responsibility and dependence upon God’s grace. Only God can give the Holy Spirit. But, he does so in response to our faithful seeking. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart…”
Bring your "vessels" to God and he will fill you with the Holy Spirit!
Prayer: Lord, I know that you have a heart for the poor and needy, the oppressed and downtrodden. I come to you, desperate, Lord. Give me, I pray, the fullness of the Spirit and deliver me from sin. Amen.
Psalm of the Day: 11.1-7
1 In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
4 The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.
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