41 Jesus sat near the Temple money box and watched the people put in their money. Many rich people gave large sums of money. 42 Then a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which were only worth a few cents.
43 Calling his followers to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. 44 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.”
Read Mark 12:41-44 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Many have wondered how God looks at our gifts. Is it the amount of the gift? Is it the percentage of the gift compared to what we have? Is it simply what the gift costs us? Or is it some combination of all the above amounts?
Aside from Jesus’ own sacrifice, there probably is not a better example that is used for valuing gifts then what our passage for this entry shares. In four simple verses, we see a picture of incredible giving that is a very small dollar amount compared with some very large gifts that are less significant.
While many might say that this means God looks at our gifts from a “cost” or “percentage” frame-of-mind, if we stop there, we miss a big truth that Jesus directly says about the gift-givers themselves: “Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. 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.’” (v. 43-44)
From Jesus’ own mouth we read a big contrast between these givers: the rich were giving from their surplus, while the widow was giving from what she had to live on. While this sounds like Jesus is focusing in on what the gift costs, I see it also focusing in on the giver’s heart. The rich givers, by giving from what they did not need, show very little trust in God, because they have all their bills already paid for. This widow shows an incredible trust in God to provide because she has placed Him in the first and only spot of her budget.
This means not only is the cost of the gift and the priority of the gift important, but the heart of the giver is important as well. While a few cents might seem incredibly insignificant to us, Jesus has given us some examples of how God has used insignificant food gifts and multiplied them into incredible amounts. If God can multiply bread and fish, He can multiply the small gifts that are given with a heart full of trust in Him.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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