Mark 12:41-44
41And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.43And he called his disciples to him and said to them,
I've just started reading Money, Possesions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn. In the first chapter he compares the poor widow (Mark 12) with the rich ruler (Luke 12). The Lord granted me an insight in to the example of the poor widow that I've never thought of before. Jesus' point is that one's faith and generousity is not measured by the amount given, but by the trust that is implied in the sacrifice. The bigger the sacrifice the greater the trust. Jesus is of course correct, but that doesn't mean that the amount that the widow gave is insignificant. I used to think that if one gave away all that they had, their offering would be the same as the widow's regardless of how much, but that's not necissarily true.
According to my bible, the two coins that she put in were worth 1/64 of a denarius (one days wage). For me that would be equivalent to $1.56 (before taxes). The scriptures say that this was all she had to live on. $1.56 might feed me for a day, but after that I would starve to death. This is vastly different than if one were to give away his last $1,000.00 ( or even $100.00) There's no point in taking to this widow about saving for her future, when what she has won't even last a day. Her desperate situation encouraged such faith because she knew that her "wealth" could not possibly sustain her. Unfortunately, most of us aren't as lucky, we have just enough wealth that we can fool ourselves into thinking that we just might be okay as long as we don't do anything crazy or give too much away.
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