Poor Widow, Mark 12:41-44
This passage represents a good biblical principle to live by. It reminds us that what we owe God is as important as what we owe to the bank or the phone company. We are to offer our gifts to God first, and then let the rest of our budget work around it.
Typically, we are most comfortable giving God ‘leftovers’. We develop our budget with all the known bills—car payments, insurance, rent, food, clothes – and then we see what we have left over. Out of that residual amount, which seems to get smaller and smaller each year, we determine if we have anything left to give God. That is a really bad habit to get into. We are to consider our gifts to God like this widow did, a priority. It is a leap of faith to put money in the plate each week and God greatly honors that faith.
God does not ask us to give beyond our means but God does not like getting the leftovers. Do you want God’s leftovers – left over mercy, left over joy? Of course not. So, think of it from God’s point of view — having to always stand in line behind payments to the gym (we don’t even go that much but maybe we will), or the money we keep for eating out (we deserve a break, don’t we?). For God, it is disrespectful. God sacrificed for us but we do not value that sacrifice enough to give more than leftovers?
As we journey to the cross together, let’s think about how much we value eternal life and the others gifts that God offers – love, joy, peace and hope, not to mention being declared joint heirs to the kingdom. Maybe we can re-evaluate our spending and giving habits so that we do a better job of honoring God’s sacrifice on our behalf.