I often write down my reflections & prayers when I read Scripture. I pray that this challenges you to take Jesus seriously and helps you grow in your faith! I encourage you to read the passage first and then read my writing.
Mark 12:41-44
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. 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.”
In the eyes of the religious system of Jesus’ day, this woman was cursed by God. Similar to the beliefs of many Christians today, a healthy family & prosperous income are indicators of God’s blessing. As long as a person works hard for an honest living and seeks to love their family, that person will receive a ‘blessing’ from God.
God’s economy is NOT the American Dream.
This was a woman who realized that riches are uncertain. We do not know her name or age but we know two facts about her:
1. She was a widow.
At some point of time she had lost her husband. She had no one to protect her, care for her, or provide for her needs. She experience the tremendous pain of watching her husband pass into eternity. Her hope has been dashed against the darkness of death.
2. She was poor.
The only money she had to her name amounted to a few pennies. The fact that she was both a widow & poor shows that she had no family support around her. Many would purposely turn their eyes away from her due to her needy circumstances.
This is a woman choked by poverty, broken by death, and abandoned by family. It is in these impossible circumstances that she learned to hope in the only One who never fails – God himself.
Out of her poverty she gave EVERYTHING to God as an act of worship. The giving of the rich may have looked impressive by our standards… but not in God’s. The woman learned that life does not consist in an abundance of possessions; instead she has learned the key to being rich towards God. Her hope had been firmly planted in the God of the universe and her sacrificial giving is the fruit.
Father, my heart is often choked by the riches of this world. I give out of my wealth; not my poverty. I often give enough to appease my conscious rather than giving sacrificially and generously. O God, you see the destructive idols in my heart. I try to worship both you and money; in the end it leads me into destruction.
Holy Spirit, please empower me to view my finances as belonging to you. Show me the needs around me and enable me to give liberally to anything you place on my heart. I pray these things through Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, and to the glory of the Father. Amen!
Tyler Ramsbey 