“Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have, I give to you.'” Acts 3:6
Dear Ones:
In the story of Elisha and the widow’s oil, as recorded in 2 Kings 4:7, we discover a most remarkable principle, and certainty, with regard to paying one’s debt. The story is told of a widow who was the wife of one of the “sons of the prophets.” He had been a man who truly feared and served the Lord, but he had debts that were passed on to his widow. With her two sons being at risk of being taken as servants by a creditor, she came to Elisha. There is no record of her knowing the solution to her need, only that she knew to come to Elisha, “the man of God.” His solution was an original one, but one that required faith and obedience on her part. He told her to borrow as many empty vessels (pots) as possible. Elisha then tells her to take what she has, a pot of oil, “….shut the door upon her and her sons,” and pour the oil into the empty vessels until they are full. This she did in singular, “hidden” obedience to the words of Elisha. The result was that God rewarded her openly because of her meeting Him in the “secret.” When all of the vessels were filled, she sent one of her sons to tell Elisha, who then told her the following: “Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” (v. 7)
What then is the great principle, and certainty, that we learn from this story which the Holy Spirit has kept for us to read? When we are faced with ANY need, any “debt” that we might owe to God or to men, the remedy is the same. For Peter and John, when faced with the man who was lame from birth, to the widow, who had NO resources to meet her need, there is the singular, and whole-hearted appeal to God, and trust in Him alone, to meet the need, and the necessity to RECEIVE it. It is interesting to note in both of these instances, that neither the widow, nor the lame man, anticipated the “way,” nor extent, in which God would respond. However, the great certainty was that God WOULD answer, since all hope had been stayed on Him.
The Apostle Paul said that he was a debtor to all men, with regard to preaching to them the excellencies of the knowledge of Christ. The Lord Jesus tells us that we are to pray that God would forgive us our “debts,” those deficiencies which sin has caused in our relationship with God and men. Paul later writes in the book of Romans, that we are to “…owe no man anything, but to love him.” How do we pay our debts, both to God and to men? Only by turning our gaze upward, to ask and to receive of Him, His resources, His riches. He alone can meet anyone’s need. But meet it He will in answer to faith and obedience.
Dear Father, give us to see and to understand that You have not changed since the day that the widow came to Elisha, and received from You the blessing. Nor have your ways changed since the day Peter and John confronted the lame man, who never even dreamed such a remedy would be given him. Give us to be good receivers of Your grace and mercy, that we might have to give to others, for Your glory and honor. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad