2 Kings 4:3-6 English Standard Version (ESV)
3 Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4 Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” 5 So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
As long as there were empty vessels the Lord kept pouring.
Are we empty vessels or full of ourselves?
The meditations of my heart have been about yesterday’s final words. “If we do not care about others, well then we do have a problem.” My reflections were about those who I have failed to love. In the flesh it is impossible for us to love some as God loves them. How can we get out of God’s way and allow Him to pour out His mercy and grace upon others?
The answer was simple and yet profound. “Find empty vessels.”
His disciples were instructed to go to homes where they were welcomed. They were told to knock the dust off their sandals when a house turned them away. They were not to feel guilty for not changing the vessels that were full of themselves, only to find empty vessels.
We often see our failures as obstacles to God’s mercy and grace. Shake it off and move on. Pray for the vessels that are full of themselves, that God would do what God does best. It is not our job to change the attitudes of the self-indulgent. It is our responsibility to show them what it looks like to be what God has created us to be, vessels of mercy and grace looking for empty vessels.