Conduits Wanted

Tuesday 12/13/2011 5:11 AM

Matthew 7:7-8 is part of my reading today.  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”  When I have read these verses in the past I have always taken it as a reason to pray boldly, because Jesus follows up with the assurance that the Father will give good gifts to those who ask.  Today I read these words after reading the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17.  In that story Elijah is the one asking, seeking and knocking, but the widow is the one who paid the price by giving, being found and opening her door.  God was using her to provide for the needs of Elijah and God was providing for her needs and the needs of her son.

My devotional reading includes a description of the way a Russian poustinik, or hermit, was to live.  He was to build a simple shelter that was to be unlocked at all times.  Anyone in the community could come to him at anytime and he had to do whatever was asked.  If they wanted help with some work, he was to help; if they wanted prayer, he was to pray.  When people entered his room, he was required to offer equal proportions of whatever food he had to those who visited.  The book says it this way, “Hospitality above all means that the poustinik is just passing on whatever God has put into his empty hands.  He gives all that he has, and is: words, works, himself, and his food.”  The widow of Zarephath is a good example of how the poustinik should live and, I believe, of how a Christian should live.

This past year Jaci and I have increased the amount of money that we donate to charitable causes.  One result of this action on our part is that occasionally we have more month than money, which, for the first time in my life, makes me a little uncomfortable.  I listen to others my age with children finally out of the house who are socking away money in their retirement accounts so they can accumulate enough to have a comfortable retirement.  I have always invested a small amount of money into an account but I am not increasing that amount now that I have the means to do so, instead I am giving a larger percentage away.  I have always said that God has taken care of me this far in my life, I imagine he can handle the remaining years too, but as I get older the reality of that statement is hitting home, which is probably the cause of my discomfort.

Giving away money is one thing but God asks me to give of my work, my words and myself whenever someone is in need.  That, of course, is a bit harder to do and I struggle with knowing how to balance my responsibility to be available for Jaci and the rest of my family with being available to others.  The image of passing on whatever God has placed in my empty hands is not lost on me this morning.  I’m afraid my tendency is to grasp onto what is placed in my hands so that they are no longer empty.  God, on the other hand, wants a conduit, not a catch basin.