October 26

1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD; and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bonded.

2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what has thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.

3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels, borrow not a few.

4 And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.

6 And it came to pass, when the vessel's were full, that she said unto her son, bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

We see here how exactly the oil matches the capacity and number of the vessels provided. According to the provision made, so was the miraculous gift. The oil is Divine grace. As often as we pour Divine grace into the vessels of our daily acts, so long it flows and fills; but if we stay our hand, the oil is stayed.

"Go and ransack thy heart, Christian, from one end to the other, find out thy wants, acquaint thyself with all thy weaknesses, and set them before the Almighty, as the widow her empty vessels before the prophet; hadst thou more than thou canst bring thou mayst have them all filled."—Gurnall.

"As the widow's oil increased, not in the vessel, but by pouring out; and as the barley bread in the Gospel multiplied, not in the whole loaf, but by breaking and distributing; and as the grain bringeth increase, not when it lieth on a heap in the garner, but by scattering upon the land; so are the spiritual graces best improved, not by keeping them together, but by distributing them abroad. The talent gathereth nothing in the napkin, unless it be rust and canker; but travelling in the bank, besides the good it doth as it passeth to and fro, it ever returneth home with increase."—Sanderson.

If we use what God gives and value it, he who gathers much shall have nothing over, and he who gathers little shall have no lack.

Closet Promise.—But My mercy shall not depart away from him.—2 Sam. vii. 15.

The One remains, the many change and pass; Heaven's light forever shines, Earth's shadows fly;

Life, like a dome of many-colored glass, Stains the white radiance of Eternity. —Percy Bythe Shelley.

But wait, little fly, till you can understand for what the house was made; wait, little bird, till you can see your berry ripen in the advancing summer; wait, critic, till you behold the other side of the tapestry; and wait, atheist, till you can comprehend the plans of an infinite God. Thus much we can see—that evil is continually used as a dark material, out of which good is manufactured, that the mysteries of life prove the greatness of the soul, by showing that it can reach out to laws and facts which it cannot yet comprehend. For if God has put into our very reason difficulties which are insoluble here, is not this a promise that they shall be solved hereafter?—James Freeman Clarke.