All In

 ⁵ She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. ⁶ When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one."
      But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.
 ⁷ She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."


2 Kings 4:5-8


In earlier verses, Elisha asked the woman what she had; she told him she had a jar of oil.  He then asked her to gather all vessels capable of holding the oil.  Even the vessels that were filled with other things Elisha commanded her to bring (emptying out the previous contents).  With these vessels filled with oil she was able to sell it and provide for her family.


The widow obeyed entirely.  She could've brought only those that were already empty but she didn't. She had to sacrifice some of what she had so she could bring every thing Elisha.  We are like this.  We only bring God what's available; extra finances, time and even effort.  But a lesson here is that whatever we give Him we do it being all in, never withholding anything.


I do this, I cannot deny it.  For brief moments I don't give all that I have for Him.  With my finances, I've played with the idea of not tithing what I've committed.  With relationships, I've dangerously withheld all that I've committed because of pride and selfishness.  Even at work, I've done lesser by rationalizing what I'm doing is good enough.  God isn't asking us to gauge what is appropriate, He's asking us to go all out and give everything we have and allow Him to return it back to us.  We can never do more than God allows so we need to give it all we got no matter what.  


Father God, thank You for blessing me and my family with way more than I could ever ask for.  I know my selfishness gets in the way of too many things and I ask for Your forgiveness.  Lord, help me break through this stronghold so I can serve You entirely with my family by my side.  Help me to immediately see where I'm lacking and strive for Your glory!  In the most precious name of Christ Jesus I pray, Amen!