Daily Affirmations - Day 5 - The Promise of Dawn - But First
Day 5: But First
So [the prophet Elijah] went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread” (1 Kings 17:10-11).
Our Father in heaven, our Saviour taught us over and over again what "the kingdom of God is like" as He showed us its values, its concerns, its focus.
"Seek first [God's] kingdom and His righteousness" is one of the critical principles in our Lord's teachings. And into that we sometimes read abstract and lofty ideas. But we see in His own life and in the consistent messages through all of Scripture, that we are called to live out these values in the moment-to-moment rhythms of life.
You show us the example of the widow of Zarephath going about "the business of life" in a difficult season of drought and famine. Into her mundane and tedious task of gathering sticks, a decision thrust itself (1 Kings 17:7-16).
The request from a stranger for "a little water" (vs. 10) was already a request for a sacrifice in a time of drought, but she was willing. But the follow-up request for "a piece of bread" (vs.11) called for sacrifice at a whole different level:
“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die” (1 Kings 17:12).
And yet the stranger persisted, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son" (1 Kings 17:13).
O Lord! This is where Your kingdom values find us, in all their strangeness, their radical wonder, their call from the familiarity of earth with its focus on self— its emphasis on our own survival, preservation, defense. And into those instincts, tendencies, habits, mindsets, You say to us, "But First;" You say to us, "Seek first."
Lord, help us! Give us the courage like this widow to make the "Kingdom-First" choice when we have nothing except, “This is what the Lord… God… says” (1 Kings 17:14).
Even when You say, "Help the foreigner and stranger" (Leviticus 25:23); or, "In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others (Philippians 2:3-4); or, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42).
Help us to do as You ask, trusting that all [other] things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33 - NKJV); that in keeping with the word of the Lord, Your promised provision will not be used up, nor will it run dry (1 Kings 17:14-16 - NIV).
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