THE CHILDREN'S VESSELS
In the days of the prophet Elisha there came to him a poor woman who was not able to pay her debts. She was afraid that her two young sons would be taken from her and sold as boy-slaves. All she had in the house was a pot of oil which, as you will know, is a type of the Holy Spirit. Although already in debt she was told by the man of God to borrow even more - as many empty vessels as possible! This would make her debts seem greater! Thus we sometimes find that when we become anxious about our souls our troubles seem at first to get worse. But the woman's oil had to be poured into the vessels which her boys brought to her and it was then sold to provide enough to pay the debts and to meet the future needs of the household. For us this means that there should be more and more room in our human vessels for the Holy Spirit to shed abroad in our hearts the love of God. When the boys went round handing back the various vessels to those who had lent them: what a story of God's grace they would have to tell!
Scripture teaches us that believers on the Lord Jesus are "vessels of mercy... prepared for glory". The Lord will be wondered at in them for they will be displayed in a coming time in the immense variety of God's handiwork. Human potters have through the centuries made very beautiful and valuable vessels out of the varied clays of the ground. But God's "earthen vessels", our bodies, precious in themselves, are to hold an even greater treasure - the knowledge of His glory seen by faith in the face of Jesus Christ.
You will remember the story of Gideon and his three companies of a hundred men each. Like the light of life in the believer, each man had a lighted torch inside an empty pitcher. When this vessel was broken the light shone out very clearly. So it may be that some children and young people who read these words are weak, ill or handicapped in some way, yet the light of the personal knowledge of the Saviour can shine out all the more brightly for others to see.
When the Israelites were in the land of God's promise they were to bring of the various firstfruits of the ground in a basket, lay it down humbly before Jehovah and worship Him. The basket is a type of the Christian as a vessel containing the blessings which God has so freely given to us in Christ and by the Spirit. These are not just for our joy but rather as a means of glorifying the God who has provided them. He is not a God afar off but is present to our spirits as we worship "in Spirit and truth". The Father seeks such worshippers . Are you one? J.C.Evershed