LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil

Friday, 17th July 2026

GATHER NEW VESSELS

SCRIPTURE READING   2 Kings 4:1-7

Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbours — empty vessels; do not gather just a few._ 2 Kings 4:3

A widow approached Elisha for help. Her husband, a prophet, had died and left the family with a lot of debts. Having defaulted on the debt payments, the creditor threatened to take the widow's sons into slavery to offset the family's liabilities.

In response to the widow's request for help, Elisha asked what she had. She replied that she only had a jar of oil. That's all she had. Elisha indicated that God would multiply the widow's little oil to create enough cash flow for her to pay off her debts and live comfortably. Before the miracle of increase would start, Elisha instructed the woman to 'borrow vessels from everywhere.'

The implication was that when the miracle of increase began, the widow needed vessels to contain the abundant oil. She had to increase her capacity to contain what God was bringing her way. 

What can we learn from this?

- We need to build capacity for what God gives us.

The Lord expects us to contain what He gives us. Just as rainwater can be wasted if we do not harvest it, our blessings can be lost if we do not properly contain them.

- What we don't know, we can learn from others.

 The Lord knew the widow did not have enough vessels to contain what was coming her way. We can grow our capacities if we learn from others.

- The blessings we keep are the ones we can contain in our lives.

In the miracle that followed, the oil kept flowing as long as there was a container for it. When there was no container, the oil stopped flowing. God will not continue pouring into our lives if we fail to increase our capacities.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to contain the blessings you pour into my life. Show me how to increase my capacity. In Jesus' name, Amen.