“A poor widow came and
put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them,
‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to
the treasury; for they all put in out of
their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had
to live on.’” Mark 12:42-44
While many expositors of the Word have used this passage to
prompt their congregations to give and that generously, the thought I would
like to share this morning has not as much to do with financial contributions
as giving our all to and for the one who gave his all for us.
When you consider the poor widow, what do you think? The fact that she is a widow tells us that
she is in a perpetual state of loss. She
is described as basically being down to her last cent. This tells us that she either had no children
or the children she had were not willing to support her. Perhaps she had a way of making money or
survived on the kindness of others, nevertheless, it was everything she
had. Lastly, she was willing to give it
to the Lord. We know that she appeared
at the temple to pay her temple taxes as was the custom for the Israelites, but
to her, it seems the ultimate demonstration of faith, obedience and love.
Beloved, when we think of our Lord, what is his worth to
you? It is well known that he, as an
absolute expression of love, left heaven and gave his life for us, but what are
we willing to give to express our love for him?
To be sure, we are unable to earn the great gift that he gave, but we
are by no means prevented from demonstrating love and faith toward him and
expressing ourselves by giving ourselves.
You see we were bought by his blood, but must still voluntarily give
ourselves to him. This can certainly be
expressed in our financial contributions, but is exponentially better shown in
our manner of living. Our attitude and
actions should be consistent with this:
Therefore
I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living
and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of
worship. And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove
what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Rom
12:1-2
What is the biblical meaning of sacrifice but the giving of
life? It is what he did for us. Let us be willing to give our living for him.
Committed,
Lee
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