Then he said ‘Go borrow vessels from everywhere, from all
your neighbours- empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have
come in you shall shut the door behind you and your sons then pour it into all
those vessels and set aside the full ones’ 2 Kings 4: 3-4 NKJV.
A certain widow who was a wife of a prophet who had died came
to Elisha for help. Her husband had died but left his family in debt and the creditor
was coming to take her two sons as slaves. Elisha asked her what she had and she
said she only had a jar of oil, then Elisha asked her to go and borrow empty
vessels not a few but a lot , shut the door, and fill them with the oil she had.
The widow of Zarephath kept filling the empty vessels with the little oil she
had and the oil kept flowing, but the moment the empty vessels finished the oil
stopped flowing.
As a business woman when I read this story I couldn’t help but
think what if she had borrowed all the empty vessels in the country, she would have
not only been able to pay up her debt and leave some for herself, but she also would
have been so rich, she would be able to give to others. I also thought wow this means that the moment
we stop filling empty vessels our oil will run out.
You may be thinking but I don’t have any oil so how can I fill
empty vessels? When we invest in the lives of others, preach to them, give to
them, show them the love of God, pray for them and with them, when we do this
and much more our oil will never run dry it will keep flowing and flowing.
Praying for others: Elisha said to the widow that she should
borrow empty vessels and shut the door behind them. It means that while she was
filling those vessels it was to be done in secret and not for the world to see.
When you pray for that boss who is always mean to you at work or that sister
who is going through a lot of challenges , you are filling empty vessels, and the
more you do this the more the anointing to do much more. So instead of always
complaining about people and how badly behaved they are, or how mean they have
been to you how about praying for them in secret?
Giving: giving does not always mean giving material things but
giving of your time, your words of advice or encouragement, your care, your friendship,
your love, little acts of kindness. When you give, you are filling empty vessels,
don’t give for the world to see, but give with the right motive, sincerely too,
with a heart of love, then your heavenly father will reward you.
Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ; when we share the gospel
of Jesus Christ with others, and tell them about the love of Jesus Christ, our lives
being the best example of what we are preaching should point them to the Jesus.
It may be a small act of obedience to God to talk to a sister or a brother
about Jesus, just imagine if the widow didn’t obey the man of God she would
have lost her sons to slavery.
To fill empty vessels, we must note that we ourselves must
be empty for God to fill us because it is only when God fills us that we can adequately
fill others. If we are too full for God to fill us, we will not be able to receive
from God. if we are too full of ourselves then there is no room for God to fill
us. We must not be half full or quarter full but empty so that God can fill us
completely. There are so many empty vessels around us, today look around for
them and fill them with the oil that God has put inside of you.
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