Make Me An Empty Vessel

2 Kings 4:1-7

The Oil of the Widow Increased

A member of the company of prophets passed away, leaving behind a widow and two children. The widow and her children had lost all their support for livelihood. They were extremely poor that they piled up insurmountable debts.

This widow cried out to Elisha, the leader of the prophets, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two children to be his slaves.” (v. 1)

This woman had lost her husband, and now she was about to lose her two children. Misfortune indeed did not come singly for her. Her life seemed to come to a dead end. She was a desperate mother on earth! Who can help her?

God’s prophets often prophesied on national issues. Does God care about a widow?

Elisha was willing to help this widow, but he wanted her to play her part in the first place so that miracles could happen. God alone created the whole universe. He spoke into being the world, firmly established by His Word. God continues His work since then, but He invites men and women to partner him in His work.

Human beings bear the image of God, and are endowed with the ability to respond to his call. This is the prevenient Grace of God. Human beings are also commissioned to be God’s earthly representatives who will co-labor and co-create with Him. This is the “cultural mandate” and “vocation”.

Elisha asked her, “Tell me, what do you have in your house?” (v.2)

The widow answered honestly, “Your servant has nothing there at all, except a small jar of oil.” (v.2)

Indeed, her predicament was far beyond the intimidation of having her children taken away by her creditors. She found it hard to feed herself too. She was running out of her next meal!

Then Elisha instructed the widow, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbours, empty vessels and not too few. Then 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.”

The widow obeyed the words of the prophet. She really did exactly what was told by the prophet, by asking her son to collect as many jars as possible. Then they shut their door behind them and filled their empty jars with oil.

Finally, she told her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.”

Then the oil stopped flowing (v.6).

The widow was thrilled with the miraculous provision but she was careful enough to first consult the man of God how she should proceed further. We need to take note of the undertone of “being obedient to God’s command” in the narrative.

The man of God said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” (v.7)

The story started with Elisha (v.1) and ended with him, the man of God (v.7), forming a neat inclusio. Apparently, it emphasized on God’s provision for man. But we are also told in the middle that the widow and her sons were quick to co-operate with the prophet.

So, the emphasis of this miracle was more than God supplying for human needs. The form of the passage foregrounds the importance of human obedience to God so that miracles can happen.

Offer for God’s Use Your Only Jar of Oil

The miracle of abundant oil started from the first jar of oil which the widow surrendered for God’s use. The widow was really impoverished and she had with her only a jar of oil. Her one and only jar of oil spoke about her poverty and shortage.

Yet in the eyes of the prophet, it became a means through which God could accomplish great thing. This little and humble jar of oil filled up many empty jars eventually. From a jar of oil, it turned out to be many jars of oil!

What we possess might be small in number. It might be insufficient and insignificant in the eyes of men. But God uses the little we have to accomplish something great. God’s grace is sufficient for us!

No one is so lacking, frail, and helpless and poverty stricken that he has nothing at all to offer up. Likewise, no one is so backslidden and fallen away beyond God’s restoration. There will always be a ray of hope that shines forth in the darkest moment of our lives!

As long as we do not give up and continue to hold on to the grace of God, and offer up our “only jar”; this last desperate effort will bring in the final victory! It is because our God is a faithful God who does the work of “increase, expand and secure” in the lives of his people.

The grace of God is sufficient for us! What does God expect from you this day? What do you have in your hand right now?

Though it may be little and insignificant, do not give up but instead, offer them to God. Miracle will happen! With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. The end of man is the beginning of God. Are you willing to submit to God by offering your very last jar of oil?

If we refuse to obey God, the jar of oil will remain as it is, and you may end up finishing it tomorrow. Which ending would you choose? To experience increase, or to be consumed to its very last drop of oil?

To Have Faith Means to Be Obedient

The stronger the faith the widow and her sons had, the more the empty jars would they borrow from their neighbours. The more empty jars they had, the more blessing they would contain.

Mother and children had to shut their door behind them and fill in the empty jars with oil. The air was indeed tense and exciting! It means that they were to do the operation all by themselves.

The volume of oil contained and the size of blessing received by the widow solely depended on her level of faith and obedience to God. And she was not supposed to rely on others. We might get used to rely on others and God to carry out our tasks. We remain idle and are even lazy to pray because we rely on others to pray for us. This is a wrong attitude!

God wants our participation. He wants us to be responsible. We have to toil by putting in our efforts, and pray for things to happen, adverse circumstance to be turned around!

The money from the sale proceeds of the oil was more than enough for the widow to repay her debts. Not only that, she had surplus to sustain the livelihood of her family. When God’s grace is poured down on us, we will be set free from our past debt, bondage and guilt, and our future will also be secured!

God’s blessings for this desperate widow included “increase, expansion, deliverance from past guilt, and a secured future”.

Today, God is willing to bless us with these too. The problem is, how should our attitude be as we work with God to experience His blessing?

We should attempt great things for God, and also for our family, health, study, career and ministry. For the blessing, God bestowed on us includes “increase, expansion and security”.

We need not limit ourselves by holding on to a jar of oil which seems to be flowing all the times without the aspiration of “increasing, enlarging and securing future”. We can have many jars of oil. It all depends on our faith and obedience to God.

The more faith we have, the more we are willing to obey God’s instruction in preparing our empty jars. The more empty jars we have, the more we display the characters of “humility, self-emptying, self-sacrifice, teachableness and submission to God”.

Christ is the eternal Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father in all glory, riches and might but he was obedient to God’s sending and emptied himself, rid of all the riches.

Philippians 2:5-8, Paul says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in the human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on cross.”

Christ emptied himself, was weak and impoverished, died on the cross so that we could be made whole, adopted as God’s children and receive abundant life. We were once like the widow, so impoverished and laden with sins and guilt, but now we are set free because Christ has sacrificed himself to stand in for us.

All love contains the element of “substitutionary sacrifice”, without which there can’t be genuine love. God loved us even when we were yet sinners, being enemies of God. He sent Christ to die for us.

Today, do you love God? What sacrifices have you made for God?

vv.9-11 continues, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Today, what areas do you expect God to bless you abundantly, to raise you up and fill you up with overflow blessing? Offer to God this day many of your “empty jars”— “humility, self-emptying, self-sacrifice, teachableness and submission to God”.

For only empty jars are able to contain the oil of God pouring down from heaven! If the jars you gather around are filled with greed, arrogance, bitterness, selfishness, pride and self-centeredness, you will not be able to receive the fullness of God’s blessing. Instead, you may be indebted more and more. Your life will be in trouble!

We also notice that if not for the blessing of God, the widow’s children would be captives of their past debt and would continue to be enslaved by it! The deliverance of God for the widow was wholesome, i.e. clearing her past debt and securing her future livelihood.

Today God also want to bless us with a wholesome salvation and deliverance. Are you still living under the shadow of your past? Are you still carrying with you unresolved hurt and guilt? Are you feeling despair because you are facing shortages right now?

Come to Jesus now with your “empty jars”!

Calling for unbelievers to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour:

Jesus Christ emptied himself to become human and died on the cross so that we can be free to experience his salvation. For whoever places his faith on Christ, he will be a new creation. All his sins are forgiven and abundant power and grace will overflow in his life.

For those who have yet to make a decision to receive Jesus Christ into your life, and to receive Him as your personal Saviour, today is the right time for you to receive Jesus. You just need to humble yourself like an empty jar, to receive Jesus into your life as Lord and saviour.  Then you can forget about the past and come to experience the saving grace of Christ!

For those who have already received Jesus as Lord and saviour, let us continue to rely on his fullness of grace to break free from our past sins, hurts, curse and present bondages, shortages. Christ has saved us when we accepted him and he will save us till the end.

We need not worry or be anxious over the difficulties that we are facing now or the unknown future. Trust in Christ and find rest in him. He will take care of you, for you are God’s precious children.