Out of our poverty

Jesus once made a point about giving when he saw a woman giving money into the treasury at the temple.  In Luke 21:1-4 the scripture tells us

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, ² and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  ³ So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; ⁴ for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

While this applied to the woman’s giving, it wasn’t just about giving.  Jesus was describing the condition of her heart versus the condition of the hearts of the rich who were there with her.  They gave with their hearts only what they thought they could spare, not wanting to give too much.  She gave out of her poverty, a heartfelt gift of faith to the God she adored.

How often do we give out of our abundance to the work and service of God?  Putting aside the giving, do we live in such a way that we give out of our abundance or out of our poverty?  To give God everything in our hearts, all that we are and all that we do, is to give out of our poverty.  It means that we have nothing left as opposed to living in such a way that God gets only the time and effort we can spare after doing all of the things we want to do. 

Which do we resemble more?  The poor widow giving her two mites or the wealthy who gave little out of their abundance?  Let’s give out of our poverty all that we are in service to the Lord.

                                                                                                            God bless you this week,

                                                                                                            Michael