2 Kings 4:1-10

2 Kings 4:1-10 - Daily Devotion - 9 July 2026 St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park 1 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”2 “How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”3 “Go,” said Elisha, “borrow jars, even empty ones, from all your neighbors. Do not gather just a few. 4 Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.”5 So she left him, and after she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing jars to her, and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another.”But he replied, “There are no more jars.” Then the oil stopped flowing.7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”8 One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.9 Then the woman said to her husband, “Behold, now I know that the one who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Please let us make a small room upstairs and put in it a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there.”REFLECTIONSWritten by James DavidsonGod provided generously in a remarkable way for the destitute widow of one of the company of prophets who supported Elisha is his work of speaking the word of God. After that, the prominent woman provided generously for Elisha. This reminds me of two principles which flow through to the New Testament. Firstly, God’s command that we provide materially for those who teach us his word full time. Galatians 6:6 says: “Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.” Am I generous in supporting those who teach me God’s word?The second principle is God’s desire that we support widows who are in financial need, particularly those who fear God. 1 Timothy 5:3 says: “Honor the widows who are truly widows.” Am I generous to Christian widows that I know? Am I generous to people in need generally?Sometimes paid gospel workers die young. If so, we must be especially mindful to support the families they leave behind. We serve a God who loves the widow and the orphan, and who wants his word to go out. Let’s be like him in generously supporting both those in need and gospel workers. ABOUT THE AUTHORJames is one of our Assistant Ministers.