The Journey
June 13 2018
(Continued from 053018) …..At the first sign of light, the travelers dismounted and carefully opened their saddlebags. Inside the bags, they gladly discovered that the rocks they had picked up during the night had turned into gold. But the gladness was short lived because they quickly realized that they should have picked up more rocks.
The Old Testament contains a story that parallels this “glad and sad” principle. The story is one of the four miracles God does through the prophet Elisha as told in the fourth chapter of Second Kings.
A widow of one of the prophets, faced with debt and a merciless creditor, appeals to Elisha for help. He commanded her, “Go, and borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels: do not get a few. And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full. …And it came about when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not one vessel more.” And the oil stopped” (2 Kings 4:3, 4, 6).
The oil flowed while there was a jar to fill, and it ceased to flow only when the widow ran out of vessels. The quantity of the oil was limited only to the extent that she had empty containers available. She had collected a few vessels— a few “rocks”— the contents of which she used to pay her pressing debt and support her and her sons for an extended period. Had the widow, obeyed Elisha’s command, “do not get a few,” and collected more vessels, she would have had additional oil to sell and better provided for her family.
Many believers come to the end of life’s journey both sad and glad. Glad the few deeds they did for God have stored up gold for them in heaven; sad they did not do more deeds. Too late, other Christians realize that God wanted to pour abundant blessings upon them but, they had collected few empty jars.
To be sure, the idea of personally walking with God is daunting. For some believers, God is not a part of their daily life. He resides somewhere in the heavens keeping an eye on them, seeking to catch them sinning. Other Christians believe He is watching, but His goal is to protect them from harm or in some way offer assistance. The idea that God comes to us seeking a walk of fellowship boggles the mind.