41Jesus 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. 42But a poor
widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a
penny.
43Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has
put more into the treasury than all the others.
44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her
poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (New International Version)
At our recent ministry team meeting,
Marcus Morgan, our team leader for The Last
Days of Jesus Pageant, challenged us to read the Passion Week passages of
the Gospels in such a way that we are reading three chapters a week—every day
of the week. So the first week, we were
to read Mark 11-13 every day, and the second week Mark 14-16; then go on to
Luke, Matthew and John. While we read,
we are to pray and to take notes of anything that stands out.
During my time at Multnomah Bible
College, I had classes where we not only had to read the Scripture passages numerous
times, but we were to read the passages in several translations other than the
one we normally use. In English, we
often have several different ways to say the same thing, and sometimes one way
will “hit home” more than another.
So in doing Marcus’ challenge, I
decided each day that I would read our assigned passages from a different
translation. And on the fifth day, when
I came to the passage above, verse 44 stood out like it never had before as I
read it in the fifth translation of the week.
In the New Century Version, it reads, “They gave only what they did not need.
This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had; she gave all she had
to live on.”
“They gave only what they did not
need.” Wow. That
hit home and sparked my interest, so I grabbed other translations to compare:
“For they gave a tiny part of their surplus,
but she, poor as she is, has given
everything she had to live on” (New Living Translation).
“For all did cast in of their abundance;
but she of her want did cast in all
that she had, all her living” (King
James Version).
“For all of them, out of their wealth, have
contributed money they can easily spare; but she, out of her poverty, has given everything she had to live on” (Jewish
New Testament).
I was used to reading from the NIV,
“They
all gave out of their wealth,” …but reading, “They gave only what they did not
need,” …that really made me understand.
This passage is really about faith.
Jesus was praising her because of her faith, for faith pleases God.
“And
without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him
must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him,”
(Hebrews 11:6, NIV).
When we only give what we don’t need, we are not exercising our
faith. When we give what we do
need, that is showing God that we are trusting in Him, not ourselves, to
provide for what we truly need.
I know that due to unforeseen circumstances
or even our own poor choices, we sometimes struggle to make ends meet, yet we
are encouraged to have faith and give to God first. But we often reply that we cannot. We are waiting until we have the surplus—till
we have the money we don’t need—before we will give to God.
The woman whom Jesus praised—the woman
who had lost her husband—did not have enough to make ends meet. But instead of keeping that little bit of
money for herself, she put her trust in God and gave it to Him. She had a faith that pleased God.
So, what about you? Do you have a faith that pleases God? Or do you only give to Him what you don’t
need?
Once for Children’s Church, while
teaching the kids 2nd Corinthians 5:15, “And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for
themselves but for Him Who died for them and was raised again,” I wrote this
poem about making their whole lives—every area—count for God and not waiting
until the end to serve Him:
I want to give God my best.
With my whole life,
may
He be truly blessed.
When my life on earth is over,
of me, may it not be said,
that
I only gave God my leftovers.
Besides our time, one area in
which we are often the most selfish and faithless is our pocketbooks. Not only do we believe that money to be ours,
but we don’t trust that God will look after us in the ways in which we would want. Unlike the widow, we hold back to meet our
own needs and wants first. Then, like
the rich people, we think we are being generous—even sacrificial—as we give God
what are actually only our leftovers.
So, here is my challenge for you:
the next time the offering plate comes around, entrust God with the money you need (not just what you can spare), and
show the One Who already gave His life for you that you truly believe He will
do what is best with your offering.
And here’s an extra challenge: tomorrow,
as you read God’s Word, try reading from another translation, and see what might
“hit home” for you.
~ Respectfully
submitted, Jennifer Goodman
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