The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Ezekiel 22:29-30

Pots and pans are interesting. They are created with a void but are designed to hold something. This is one of the reasons for the second commandment:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God... (Exodus 20:5)

Idolatry was such a problem that there are fourteen different synonyms and words for idol in the Old Testament, and the Hebrew Scriptures say more about this commandment than any of the other nine.

Why was idolatry so common? Every human being is created with a need to worship God. As St. Augustine said, we all have a "God-shaped emptiness" inside us, and our hearts are restless until they rest in him.

I have heard people complain to anyone who will listen that this intimacy with God stuff is a hoax. It's as if they are determined to present their fullness for God to fill. Yet God isn't interested in meeting you at your best -- actually, that is really when you are at your worst. He isn't interested in blessing your independence; He responds to your dependence. His strength is attracted to your weakness. He casts down the proud, but He runs to the pitiful.

Yet, as followers of Christ, we shouldn't be content merely to present our own emptiness to the Father. Rather, we need to collect the emptiness and pain of those around us and take it to God. The Apostle Paul describes this as making intercession:

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men... (I Timothy 2:1)

Whether in the church or in our individual lives, the preoccupation with self and self-comfort looms as one of the greatest stumbling blocks in the Christian life. According to the Scriptures, God searches for worshipers and for people who will lay down their lives to stand in the gap -- God's intercessors, anointed pot and pan collectors. These people look beyond their own needs and wants to collect emptiness from everyone their lives touch.

Are you a holy pot and pan collector or a needs and wants seeker? Do you spend most of your time before the One who laid down His life for you seeking His blessings for you, or by laying down your own life before Him on behalf of others?

Intercessory prayer isn't exactly the most popular activity on the Christian scene. Could that be because it is usually done beyond the view of the public eye, and because intercessors are rarely recognized, praised, or honored for the service they render on their knees? I'm reminded that intercession is the occupation Jesus chose after He defeated the enemy, rose from the dead, and took His seat at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:34). Could we do any better?

As God commanded the widow in Elisha's day (II Kings 4:4), He commands us to gather empty pots -- not a few! Why? Because, the volume of our emptiness determines the amount of our filling.

While you are gathering up the emptiness in your own life, will you take the time to gather up "not a few" vessels of emptiness from those around you and others God leads into your path?

Pastor John