At a recent event known as the Walk to Emmaus I was blessed to be on the leadership team and help lead discussions with some wonderful ladies. On our last day, we asked one another about our favorite Bible story. For me it was so hard to choose. You have the story of Esther. The Samaritan Woman. The woman who touched Jesus’ robe. Peter walked on water. How do you choose just one? I admit I don’t remember which one I selected, but I remember Iola’s favorite. It was the widow woman’s offering.
This short story in the Bible wasn’t even on my top ten list, so when Iola mentioned this story it piqued my interest. I have always felt that Jim and I are good financial stewards, so these few verses never made much of an impact. I always read them with pride in my heart. Give financially, yep done, checked off my list of good deeds. What an attitude, because the story is about much more than financial stewardship!
While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box.Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. “I tell you the truth,”Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them.For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” Luke 21:1-4
I read these verses several times over the next couple of days, and studied the footnotes in my Bible. God calls for us to give our all. Not just financially, but in every area of our lives. I am now convicted every time I read, “For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”Jesus calls us to give all of our time to serve others. All of our strength for the trials in life. All of our compassion for the hurting. All of our gifts and talents. In every area of our lives, we should take intentional steps to give all we have to Christ.
In these verses, Jesus isn’t concerned about a money issue. He is concerned about a heart issue. The widow wasn’t blessed because she gave financially. She was blessed because she gave from her heart. She reminds me of David, a man after God’s own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14). She was a woman after God’s own heart. She wasn’t a woman who simply gave monetarily. She was a woman who invested in the kingdom of God with all of her heart, all of her mind, and all of her soul. (Matthew 22:37).
Dear Lord,
I ask your forgiveness for my foolish pride and for the time I spend on worldly items, which do not point others to Christ. Change my heart Lord, so I desire to serve You with my whole heart, my whole mind, and my whole soul. Help me to use my gifts and my talents within your church, and the ministries which bless You. Lord give me strength to go above and beyond what I feel is possible each day, because with You everything is possible. Please help me grow stronger in my faith and become a Christian who desires to see others as You see them. Make me more like the Widow Woman and turn me into a woman who is after God’s own heart.You have asked for my best Lord, and for today, I give You my all.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
When you give of your time, your money and your strength: Do you give because you feel obligated or do you give out of love?