Friends in Christ Weekly Message
November 8, 2003

     Sitting across from the offering box, he was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. One poor widow came up and put in two small coins - a measly two cents. Jesus called his disciples over and said, "The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford - she gave her all."
Mark 12:41-44 (Message*)

In this story, as in so many others, Jesus looks at things from a different perspective than most of those in the world do. Commonly, we look at how much people give in terms of the amount. Jesus tells us that this is not the most important perspective.

Jesus calls us to total commitment. This isn't defined by what we do or how much we give. The widow is held up as an example of total commitment, and yet her contribution seems measly in the world's eyes. The key is that she held nothing back - she gave all she had to give.

May we each show the kind of commitment that this widow did. May we each offer up all of our resources - our material resources, our time, our capacity to love, and everything else - totally for the Kingdom of God. In the name of He who give His all for us I pray, amen.

Bill Samuel

* The Message version ©2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.

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