“And Elisha said unto her... tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou... shalt pour out into all those vessels.... So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed” (2 Kings 4:2626Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well. (2 Kings 4:26)).
Events in the world strongly suggest that we are just moments before the return of our blessed Lord Jesus for His bride, the church. But until this wonderful moment, each believer has, as it were, a “pot of oil” (the Spirit of God) in his house. The supply of the Spirit’s blessing is inexhaustible, even as the widow found of her “pot of oil.” It ought to be our desire that this inexhaustible supply of blessing be poured out until “there is not a vessel more.”
Christians are told in 2 Timothy 4:55But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5) to “do the work of an evangelist.” May we be found faithfully seeking lost souls! We need not go far to find these “empty vessels.” They are nearby in the places we live and work. How many “empty vessels” precious, lost souls there are in the world!
It is encouraging to see that every vessel that was brought in was filled! There was never a question of the oil in the widow’s house running out. Nor can there ever be any question about the boundless resources of the Spirit of God being able to fill every soul that is brought to Christ.
We often sing, “God’s house is filling fast, yet there is room. Some guest will be the last, yet there is room.” The time will come, perhaps very soon now, when the last soul is saved and “there is not a vessel more” to be filled. Then the oil will stay the Spirit of God will cease filling empty vessels.
May God grant purpose of heart to each to be found diligently gathering precious, empty vessels, until that time when the “Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout” (1 Thess. 4:1616For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (1 Thessalonians 4:16)) and catch away His blood-bought bride. “So shall we ever be with the Lord.”
D. Bilisoly (adapted)