The Widow's Oil

2 Kings 4: 1 – 7 (NIV): The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves." Elisha replied to her, "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 little oil." Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side." She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."

The first lesson in this story is that the widow went to God when she needed help, since Elisha was a prophet of God. Often, we try everything else first, then go to God as a last resort. To be blessed, we should go to God when we are in need. Jesus taught us to pray to God for our needs, and Paul said we can approach God as a loving father.

This widow was facing a very serious, even life-threatening situation. Her husband had died and left her in debt. In those days, a person could be forced into slavery to repay a debt – or the person's children in this case. Without her sons' support, she might have starved. This was a desperate situation for her.

Elisha wanted her to take part in the blessing that God was about to provide. I suppose he could have zapped the money in front of her in some miraculous way, but God's ways are higher than ours. Instead, Elisha gave her some very specific instructions. Had she not followed them, the plan would not have worked.

Notice that God's blessing to her was measured out, in part, by her measure of faith. If she had only asked her closest neighbors for a jar or two, the plan would have fallen short. Since she asked the whole neighborhood, she had enough oil to pay her debt and even live on the remainder until her sons could begin to support her. God is a God of more than enough, but we must completely sell out to him to receive his full measure of blessing.

Why did Elisha instruct her to close the door when the miracle happened? Perhaps it was a private matter for her and her sons, or it could have been for her own safety. Whatever the reason, she followed Elisha's instructions exactly and that is what we must do if we want to see God work in our lives, even if we don't understand.

Consider the impact this miracle had on her sons. Think of the impact it had on her neighbors. She was blessed and God was glorified.

John the Baptist Doubts

Matthew 11: 1 – 6 (NIV): After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

John the Baptist was born of supernatural power. Jesus said he was the fulfillment of the second-to-last verse of the Old Testament, which says Elijah would return before the Messiah. (Malachi 4:5). John was the man who had the privilege of baptizing Jesus himself. He was a powerful preacher who pointed his finger at common people, religious rulers, and even Roman royalty. Yet, in these verses, we find that even he had his doubts.

This is encouraging to me because if a spiritual giant like John the Baptist doubted, then I needn't feel bad when I do. We all have our doubts and they seem to come from the same reason: Life isn't working the way we thought it should. John the Baptist must have been miserable in the small prison cell where Herod had thrown him. He was accustomed to being outdoors, sleeping in the wide-open desert. Now he was stuck in prison, silenced from his ministry. As he sat in that cell, doubts began to creep into his mind. Was Jesus truly the Christ? If so, why had God allowed him to be thrown into prison for preaching the truth? Suddenly, it wasn't adding up.

So, he sent a couple of his disciples to ask Jesus if he truly was the Christ. I love Jesus' answer. He didn't scold John for doubting or ask him to search his feelings, he gave him the facts that proved that he was, indeed, who he claimed to be. He pointed out that Isaiah 35 and 61 said the Christ would heal the blind, lame, deaf and sick, and he would preach to the poor. Jesus was not only doing these things, he was even raising people from the dead.

Jesus, in essence, told John the Baptist to base his faith on the facts, not on his feelings. Our feelings will betray us. The facts of the resurrection prove that our faith is reasonable and solid. The historic eyewitness accounts of Jesus' life give us a firm basis to believe and trust and hope.

No, we will not always understand life, just like John the Baptist didn't. But Jesus encouraged us to not fall away because we don't understand his plans. Weigh the evidence; consider the facts, and then believe.

The Cost of Being a Disciple

Luke 14: 25 – 33 (NIV): Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Please understand that Jesus is not telling us to hate our families. We know that Scripture teaches just the opposite. This was a common teaching tactic in this culture. It was designed to shock you and get your attention. Jesus was saying we must place him above our families and, yes, our own lives. He must be first place. He must be the Lord of our lives if we are to call ourselves his disciples.

Notice the context of this story. Luke says “large crowds were traveling with Jesus...” Jesus was separating the onlookers from the disciples. A disciple is a learner and a follower. In the game of life, too many Christians are sitting in the stands watching; Jesus is inviting us to follow him onto the field and get in the game.

My game metaphor is inadequate, of course. It might be more accurate to call the Christian life a war instead of a game. Lives are at stake. Eternal lives. To be a true disciple, a person must first count the cost, then throw himself completely into the faith. Half-hearted commitments will not work.

To carry one's cross has only one true meaning. A person carrying his cross was marching to his death. The Romans used this method of execution on slaves and traitors. Jesus' hearers knew exactly what it meant. We use it to refer to carrying some burden, but that is not what Jesus meant.

So, if we are to be disciples of Christ, we put him first in all areas of our lives. No one and no thing is more important to us, not even our families. We must die to ourselves. This means we desire what God wants even more than our own wants and needs. We lay down our own lives and allow Jesus to live through us (Galatians 2:20). So many people are interested in the “show” of Christianity. They love the blessings and the fellowship, the redemption and healing, but when it comes to making a sacrifice for Christ, their faith comes up a little short. Are you an onlooker or a disciple?

Mary and Martha

Luke 10: 38 – 42 (NIV): As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself ? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

This story takes place in Bethany, near Jerusalem. We find in other scriptures that Mary and Martha were Lazarus' sisters and whenever Jesus was visiting Jerusalem, he stayed with them. This story points out two choices we can make: The choice to work for Jesus, and the choice to spend time with him. It may shock you to read this, but I believe Jesus would rather you pray than witness. Both are good, but only one can be the best thing.

Often life presents choices not between good and evil, but between what is good and what is best. It is best, Jesus said, to spend time with him. Don't worry, as we strengthen our love for God, good deeds will follow, but they will not be a way to earn a friendship with God, they will be the result of it.

You may read this and think it would not have been practical to just sit at Jesus' feet and not get supper ready. If Martha hadn't gone to the kitchen, Jesus would have gone hungry. Could she have allowed that? Should she have? Was it fair for Mary to let Martha do all the work? Jesus seems to be saying that Martha was fussing to make everything just right and, because of it, missing out on the time she could have spent with him. “Only one thing is needed” may mean something like, “I don't need anything too fancy, just find some bread and get in here so you can visit with me.”

Jesus understood the cultural need for a hostess to provide for her guests. He understood that Martha, as a woman, felt compelled to feed him. This story isn't trying to take on any social issues. The culture was what it was. Jesus simply used this situation to teach us that working for him is not the best thing, our relationship with him is. Our faith is not about rules, regulations and work, it is about having a relationship with God. That is the number-one thing he wants from us. Ours is the only religion that teaches that the Creator desires fellowship with his creation and paid dearly to have it. That is amazing to think about.

I've heard that the devil's favorite tool is to keep us so busy we neglect our relationship with God. I believe that and he's doing a pretty good job. Sometimes we are so busy, even doing good things, that we neglect just sitting quietly and listening to God – in his word and in prayer. What is the very best thing we can do? Make the right choice and watch everything else fall into place.

True Commitment

Daniel 3: 16 – 25 (NIV): Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king's command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" They replied, "Certainly, O king." He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

Shadrach, Mechach and Abednego were three teenagers who had been taken captive by a foreign country and made to be slaves about 600 B.C. They could have used their terrible plight as an excuse to give in and worship the gods of Babylon. They could have turned from their faith in God, reasoning that he had abandoned them. But character is who you are when no one is looking. These young men showed true character; true commitment; true grit.

One of the lessons we can learn from this story is that if we only serve God when things are going well, we might not serve him very often. There is always some disappointment, always something that can cause us to turn from God. These teens served God even when times where at their worst. They served God even when it could have cost them their lives. The king had ordered them to worship a golden statue he had erected representing himself. They simply refused. Our level of sacrifice shows our level of dedication to God and they were willing to sacrifice their lives for him. They had made a vow to serve God and they intended to keep it. We see how true our vows are when they are tested.

I love how they told the king that God was able to save them and they believed he would, but even if he didn't, they were still going to serve him alone. That should be a reflection of our prayer life today: we believe God will answer, but we are going to serve him even if he says no, or if we don't understand his answers. That's true commitment, true belief. Pray believing and leave the results to God.

Finally, there is an interesting event in this story. Not only did God spare the young men, he came and walked with them through their trial (This was undoubtedly Jesus himself). What a beautiful picture of a caring God who allows us to go through trials of fire, but not alone – he walks with us through them, carrying us if necessary.