posts

“A poor widow came and put in
two very small copper coins,
worth only a fraction of a penny.”

She had a choice, you know.

If she’d only had one coin,
she could either have given

or not.

But she had two.

She had the choice
to give and still keep some
for herself.

“They all gave out of their wealth;
but she,
out of her poverty,

put in everything—

all she had to live on.”

She gave it all.
No questions.
No complaints.

Oh my God!

How much you demand,
How little I give.
How little I give.

So often I am tempted to “give” out of my riches and call it giving. Very seldom do I make a serious sacrifice for Christ.

We all are so blessed, so wealthy. We can’t begin to imagine how much we’ve been given, and it humbles me that I give so little. David writes and says “I will not present as an offering to my God that which cost me nothing.” Powerful words. We give out of our abundance that which costs us nothing, and Christ’s message of sacrifice is so often drowned out by our cultural ears.

It seems fitting now to bring back three questions Kelly asked during a talk last semester:

1. if i had to eat this week on the same amount of money i put in the offering plate on sunday morning, how many meals would i get?

2. if i was trying to develop a relationship with a significant other, and i gave to that person the same amount of quality time i’ve given to God in the past week, how long would that relationship last?

3. if Jesus looked into my heart and demanded something from me in order to have eternal life, would i walk away sad?

May we be people who honor God through our stewardship of His gifts.