Mark 12:41b-44 -  “Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ’Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on.’”

Today, we will be focusing upon what Jesus said about the rich-who were giving out of their wealth. Now this is not a disparaging comment about being rich, and we want to be blessed in this area. However, to say that they gave out of their wealth is to say that they gave out of their personal riches!  As in, I have wealth, and I am giving something to the Lord that I have personally earned and prospered in.  No. Remember the warning that the Lord gave the Israelites as they were going into the promised land-that when abundance comes, to not think it came from our hands, but from the Lord who gives to us. The time of offering therefore is a time of humbling of ourselves, again acknowledging that it all comes from the Lord. We live in a world where our sense of pride, power, and grandeur comes from wealth.  The time of offering is what levels the playing field for each of us as we humble ourselves, and we bring our offering carefully and humbly presented to the Lord. Therefore, the giving is not to give something we’ve earned to the Lord as a token of our worship. Rather, the tithes and offering that we give is to declare as evidence of the blessing that God has given us-for we are His people. That was the idea of the tithing of the first fruits. Jesus encourages us that our giving should reflect the giving by the poor widow who gave out of her poverty-all that she had to live on. The poor widow’s giving was such that what she gave and how she gave affected and determined how she was going to live her life-for she gave all she had to live on. What makes the offering that we give abundant and rich?  The giving of the poor widow brought the offering to a new level of beauty and surrender, not by the amount that she gave, but that she gave her very livelihood-her very life.

Today, in your time of prayer, engage in a personal time of offering, where we are giving of ourselves as we place our very lives/livelihood upon the altar.

-GK