Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1)
Do you ever wonder what really impresses Jesus? Well on Tuesday or Wednesday of Holy Week we get a glimpse of one thing that impresses Jesus – giving God our all. The story is captured in Luke 21:1 – 4 (emphasis added):
The Widow’s Offering
As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.
Jesus gives the best object lessons, and this one is a classic. In the midst of the pressure cooker that Holy Week was, Jesus stops to draw attention to this act of a poor widow. If He was prepared to pause and pay attention, so should we. What do you see? The words “all she head” ring in my head and I see the disciplines of worship and stewardship on full display.
Doesn’t it encourage you to genuinely practice these disciplines knowing that Jesus pauses and takes notice? Remember, no one understands this kind of commitment more than our Savior because just a few days after this incident He gave 100 percent for our salvation.
How committed are you? When you are tempted today to give God what’s left of your day rather than the best of your day, remember the poor widow who gave all she had. Practice the disciplines of worship and stewardship today.
April 15, 2014 at 8:50 am
What do I see? She was poor, a widow and insignificant (maybe in the eyes of many) and could have remained in her insignificance by staying away. Yet she chose to go and give of what she had……her all. A deliberate act that no one took notice of, except Jesus. Her reward was eternal. Today we might refer to it as royalties received, every time her story is read she is blessed. A lesson that teaches me not to withhold from Him. He sees my heart and His rewards are eternal.
April 15, 2014 at 9:02 am
This i spone of the most powerful passages in the scriptures, showing the way given should be done, wholeheartedly and in humility. May the lord help us in the spirit of giving in Jesus name name, Amen.
April 15, 2014 at 11:40 am
I see a poor widow who was not ashamed or embarrassed by her station in life. Or, maybe she was. But she did not let embarrassment or her status stop her from worshiping God through her service to him. She might have been poorly dressed, even not too clean, but her purpose was sure, to serve God, to give of whatever she had, not stopping to think of what others might think of how she looked or how little she had to offer. (How dare she rub shoulders with them!) It tells us that we must never belittle what God has given us; no matter how small our provision, our talent, our skill, our home, he intends that we should give it all back to Him in service to Him and others, as our reasonable worship.
There’s more here, if we think about her faith in giving all she had, trusting God to provide, but maybe someone else would comment on that.
April 15, 2014 at 7:26 pm
GOD sees the heart
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV)
Therefore however much or little we do or give or show, GOD knows.
Praise GOD.