Page 11 - Potters Vessel - Vol 1, Jan 2018

FINAL 2 - Jan 18_Potters Vessel - First draft 13/01/2018 18:08 Page 11

and care, or double the town folks’ effort in trying faith in God! So through faith, she cries out to Elisha
to replant new trees in an effort to get more fruit. to perform the impossible. And in a wonderful miracle,
No way. Total waste of time! He went straight to the as she presents what she has (only empty jars and a
spring of water that was the source of the problem. little oil) to all that God is and can do, the oil is multi-
The moral of the story? Well, the problem is not plied, her debts are paid and she has an abundance!
what we do. It is what we are. You can spend all of
your life trying to tackle some outward sins but if So what does this mean for me?
you do not see and acknowledge what the source of
the problem is, then you will never truly find the Well, apart from the encouragement that can be taken
right solution. from the fact that God sees, cares, and provides for His
children (even if He does let things get quite low and
So Elisha knew what to do. It would take the salt hard first!), let’s look at what pictures are presented
(God’s life) in a new vessel (our lives after being to us in this story. You see, if the first story we saw that
born again) being poured out into the source of the Elisha needed a new vessel or jar in which to place
problem (our old nature). Now, I would draw your salt. This emphasised the first and foremost need of
attention to another small story that follows on becoming a new creation… a new vessel fit for the in-
nicely from this one. Please read the following from dwelling of the Holy Spirit. But this story presents us
2 Kings 4:1-7: with the next stage. You see oil is also a well known
type of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Salt speaks to us
The Empty Vessel of the keeping power of the Holy Spirit, holding at bay
the corrupting influence of the old nature. But oil
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets speaks to us of the Holy Spirit’s light and anointing to
cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is perform that which is now required of a Christian.
dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But So with this in mind, let’s look at three main points
now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as that we can take from this story.
his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you?
Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant 1) Colour, shape and size doesn’t matter: You will recall
has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.” the woman in this story had to go out and find as many
Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for jars as she could to be filled. Now, did it matter about
empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. en go inside and the size or shape of the vessel? Did it matter if it was a
shut the door behind you and your new jar, an old jar, a pretty jar an
sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as ugly jar, a skinny jar or a fat jar?
each is filled, put it to one side.” She Not at all! The oil could fill the jar
left him and afterward shut the door whether it was any of these types.
behind her and her sons. ey brought Is God limited to only certain
the jars to her and she kept pouring. types of people today? No way! He
When all the jars were full, she said to uses all that present themselves to
her son, “Bring me another one.” But Him to be used. The only require-
he replied, “ere is not a jar left.” ment, as expressed by Elisha, was
en the oil stopped flowing. She went that …
and told the man of God, and he said,
2) The jar had to be empty:
“Go, sell the oil and pay your debts.
Obviously the only thing that
You and your sons can live on what is
stops a vessel being filled is if it is
left.”
already filled with something else!
So Elisha instructed the lady to get
So there’s the story. And another
empty jars. The Bible speaks of us
fantastic little story it is! We’ve got
being filled with the Holy Spirit.
a woman, a jar, and a little oil…
But it also speaks of the empting
Not the normal ingredients for a
process that allows us to be in a
blockbuster but something spe-
state to be filled and used by God.
cial is on the way none the less!
We need to be emptied of pride and
But let’s not jump ahead of ourselves
self dependence to be filled by God. That is the mes-
because you’ve got to feel for this woman. This is a
sage of 2 Cor 4. Firstly, it speaks of God’s light (the oil
real person with very real and pressing needs! She
giving light of the Holy Spirit) being in our little
had lost her husband, lost her money, lost most of
vessel:
her possessions, and now, through the cruel actions
of an angry creditor, she is about to lose all that she
“For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord,
still had – her two boys. Put yourself in her shoes for
and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who
a minute. Would you be ready to give up? Though
said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine
she had little else, one thing still remained… her
concluded on page 30
The Potter’s Vessel 11