TO CHEW ON: "Elisha replied, 'How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?'
'Your servant has nothing there at all,' she said, 'except a small jar of olive oil.'” 2 Kings 4:2
Elisha became a leader among the prophets like Elijah was before him. One day the wife of a prophet who had died came to Elisha with a big problem. “My husband owed a man some money,” she said. “Now that man says if I don’t pay back the debt, he’ll make my sons his slaves.”
“What do you have in your house?” Elisha asked.
“Only a little oil,” the woman replied.
“Here’s what to do,” Elisha said. “Send your boys out to gather oil containers. Collect as many as you can. Then close the door of your house and fill all those containers with the oil you have.”
How would she ever fill even one container with the little bit of oil she had, the woman wondered. Yet she did as Elisha said. After her sons had collected bottles, jugs and jars of all shapes and sizes from the neighborhood, they began to fill them. And an amazing thing happened. The oil never ran out – at least not till the very last container was full.
Excited, she went back to Elisha and told him what had happened.
“Now go sell that oil,” he said to her. “Use the money you get to pay your debt. Keep what’s left over to live on.”
Because the widow did what Elisha told her with the only thing she had, God gave her what she needed, and more.
What do you have? Give it to God and watch him multiply it too!
PRAYER: Dear God, help me to give myself and the things I have to You. Amen.
MORE: A What’s-in-your-house Collage
Make a collage of things you have in your house (no going out and buying supplies allowed).
- What you need:
Collage backing: cardboard cut from cereal boxes, packaging, cardboard boxes etc.
Collage materials: colorful magazine pictures, dried beans, seeds, rice, macaroni, buttons, sequins or glitter, shells etc.
Paste or glue: If you don’t have any in your house, make a paste with flour and water.
Scissors for cutting paper, or use your fingers to tear the paper into the shapes you want.
- What you do:
Arrange and glue materials onto the cardboard backing.
Display your collage in a place where you’ll see it often. Let it remind you that God can use the things you already have.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS are available too at Other Food: daily devo's.
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