The Lord’s Treasury

The Gospel of Mark tells a story about a widow’s offering (Mark 12:41-44). Jesus was watching the people putting their money into the temple treasury. He saw a lot of rich people giving large amounts. He then saw this widow who threw in two very small copper coins. He took note of the fact that she gave everything she had to live on, while the others gave out of their wealth.

In those days widows were part of the lowest group of people. They were destitute and do not have much in their possessions. They are hardly noticed and people do not give them a second thought. But Jesus noticed her. He saw through her ragged clothes and into her sacrificial heart. All the rest of the people in the temple may have shuffled past her without seeing her, but the most important man in the room did. He sees everything.

This story is about giving. The widow gave. She did not just give what she could afford to lose, she gave everything she had. How do we give? Are we as sacrificial as the widow was? Do we do it for the sake of giving back to God what is due to him or do we give because we have enough to spare? Do we give because we feel bound to do it or because we just simply love to?

How many times have we passed on giving our offerings because we didn’t feel particularly generous that day or because we didn’t have any spare change? We are blessed with so much and it is only right to give back to God what belongs to him. There are some who use their gifts as leverage for their personal interests. This is not the true spirit of giving because we are not doing it to glorify God. Let us not fall into this trap. Let us give out of the right motives.

Most of the people who came into the temple that day were proud givers. They had huge amounts to give and made sure that people knew that. But it might have been that nobody saw the little smile on the widow’s face as she gave everything she had to her Lord. It made her genuinely happy to be able to offer something to God even though it might mean that she would not eat that day. She did not need an extravagant presentation of her generosity. She was probably even a bit ashamed that, that was all she had. But in God’s eyes, it did not matter how big or small her token was. It was the fact that she gave it with all her heart. She sacrificed so much more than those coins. She offered everything she had because she knew that God had the ability to give so much more.

The widow exemplified faith in her giving. She trusted that God will provide without knowing the circumstances of how this would happen. Psalm 23:1 says that “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” And truly He is and we do not need anything outside of what He will give. May we be like the widow who gave faithfully and sacrificially because God has given us so much more than we could ever give back to Him. His grace is eternal and salvation is our greatest reward in Him.