Anthony Pritchard
Member
When a Young Man Reminds Us What Only God Can Do
A young Christian man, freshly graduated from High School, recently said something that reached straight into the heart of this seventy year old man who has walked with God for forty seven years. He was speaking about the widow in 2 Kings chapter 4, the woman whose husband had died and whose sons were about to be taken as bondmen. When Elisha asked her what she had in the house, she answered with the honesty of a soul that had come to the end of itself.
“And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee. Tell me, what hast thou in the house. And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.” 2 Kings 4:2
That was all she had. A small pot of oil. Not enough to live on. Not enough to save her sons. Not enough to pay her debt. It was, as the young man said, only enough to die with. That is the condition of every man and woman before God. What we have in ourselves is enough to bury us, but never enough to redeem us.
Scripture says the same thing in many places.
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” Romans 7:18
“There is none righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:10
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
Our strength, our goodness, our wisdom, our effort, our resolve, our promises, our self improvement, all of it is only enough to die with. We cannot change even one hair on our heads. We cannot make ourselves acceptable to God. We cannot lift ourselves into righteousness by any determination of our own.
The whole duty of man is written plainly.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep his commandments. For this is the whole duty of man.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13
But the commandments of God begin with recognition. Before a man can fear God, he must see himself as he truly is. He must see that he has nothing in the house but a pot of oil. He must see that there is none good. He must see that he cannot give himself a spiritual makeover and become someone who pleases God by effort or discipline or moral development.
God commands all men everywhere to repent.
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at. But now commandeth all men every where to repent.” Acts 17:30
Repentance is not self improvement. It is surrender. It is the empty vessel brought to God. It is the widow saying, “I have nothing.” It is the sinner saying, “I cannot save myself.” It is the heart responding to the drawing of God, for the Lord Himself said:
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” John 6:44
And again:
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32
Our part is response. His part is everything else. We do not make ourselves worthy. We do not make ourselves acceptable. We do not develop ourselves into sons. God does that. Scripture says:
“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Colossians 1:12
He makes us meet. He makes us worthy. He makes us accepted.
“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” Ephesians 1:6
The Law was never given to make us good. It was given to show us that we are not.
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Galatians 3:24
The schoolmaster teaches us our inability. It teaches us that our oil is only enough to die with. It teaches us that righteousness is a gift, not a wage.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8 9
The widow did not improve her oil. She did not enlarge it. She did not develop it. She simply obeyed, poured, and watched God supply. The miracle was not in her strength. It was in her emptiness. God filled the empty vessels. God paid the debt. God redeemed the sons. God sustained her life.
So it is with us.
Our oil is enough to die with.
Only His supply is enough to live.
Colophon
This meditation was shaped by the quiet faith of a young man who has only just stepped into adulthood, yet spoke a truth that reached into the heart of one who has walked with God for nearly half a century. His words about the widow’s oil in 2 Kings chapter 4 reminded me again that what we have in ourselves is only enough to die with, and that all sufficiency is of God. It is a blessing when the Lord uses the young to teach the old, and when a simple sentence spoken in humility becomes a light to those who have traveled long. May the God who fills empty vessels fill this generation with the same clarity and grace.
Sola gratia, sola fide. Gratia Dei sufficit. - Only grace, only faith. The grace of God is sufficient.
~Tony and Wyatte
© A. K. Pritchard and Wyatte Luschen, 2026
Free to use with proper attribution
How To Be Born Again
How To Be Born Again By a man born again in February 1979 aboard a U.S. Navy warship in the Persian Gulf Introduction: Many people have questions about the new birth and what it means to be born again. I wrote this to give a clear, Scripture based explanation of what God says about it. My...
www.baptistboard.com