Skip to main content

Everything she had.

I want to write about something that came to mind the other day.  A story from the Bible about a woman.  I don't know how old she was or much else about her except that she was a widow and that she was poor.
Jesus was sitting in the temple watching people come and put money into the offering box.  This woman came and put two small coins (both of them TOGETHER equaled a penny) into the offering.
Jesus called His disciples over to Him as He saw it and said,
"Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.  For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."           Mark 12:41-44

And my heart is sort of broken over this, in a good way.

The widow probably never knew that Jesus (or anybody else) noticed the sacrifice she was giving.  She probably wasn't blessed with overwhelming wealth after she gave the two small coins either (contrary to what the prosperity gospel may try to say). 
My guess is that she probably died poor and maybe alone (in regards to people).  It doesn't really seem fair.  It seems like a sad story.  But that's not the end of it.  Sometimes amazing stories have sad parts. 
When she died and was freed of the law of sin and death, she figured out that Jesus did notice her giving those two coins that day.  And even if she didn't get any kind of reward for it on earth (which she probably didn't), her reward in heaven was great.  Because the Lord doesn't look at the outward appearance like man does.  He looks at the heart.  That fact should either be comforting or terrifying.  It wasn't the fact that she gave money that touched His heart, it was that she gave everything she had.

Maybe for me it's not money.  But the equation is always the same: do I give everything I have to God or do I look out for myself?
Sometimes it's emotions- when I'm numb, feeling a lot, or feeling a little- Jesus wants them all.
Sometimes it is money- whether I'm broke or richer than Minus-He wants everything I have to be His.
Sometimes it's time- whether my schedule is swamped or I don't know what to do with all the time- He wants the best (and worst) of my time.
Sometimes it's relationships- whether they're going great or I just got my heart shattered- He wants all of my heart (broken or not).

There is a verse strung through the whole Bible and quoted in a lot of different places:
"Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength."
 
Anything less than that just doesn't cut it.  Anything less than that is just giving out of abundance.  Anything less than that is not everything I have to give. 

It's very much in my personality to be closed.  But this is an invitation to not only open my heart up but to take what's inside and give all that I have to give, to Jesus.  I know He'll take care of me and I know that one day I'll see that it was worth giving everything I have.



Popular posts from this blog

Seasons: The Future

So about the future.  I obviously don't know it so it makes sense that this one might be a little shorter (or longer-it could logically go either way, I just went with shorter). There are litterally (at least) a hundred different ways it could go. After the internship I'm doing, I might stay on there. Or I might come back here. If I come back here I could work, go away to college, take classes from home, live with my parents, move out with some friends, get some kind of certification and work a more specific job, come back to the office job I have now, etc. Or I could move to CA and live with some family and find a job with some distant cousins. Or I could move to some other random state and adventure there. The list of possibilities goes on and on. What sounds best to me right now is to do one of the aforementioned options that have to do with moving back here but we really will see won't we.

Thankful Thursday: Sweet heart hurts.

I was going to say "Happy Thursday to you!"  And if you're having a happy Thursday, good for you.  In the sense of wishing someone a happy day I suppose I do wish you that.  However,  I do not mean that I feel happy on this Thursday. So maybe more like "Thoughtful and introspective Thursday!" Doesn't sound as nice as "Happy Thursday" but that's okay. I'm not particularly happy on this Thursday and for fear of tempting you to judge whether or not my reason for not being happy is legitimate or not (some people feel like they have that position, you know) I won't go into the details of why. I will say that I miss somebody today.  More than just one; I miss him and his whole family. Without going into more detail on that, I'll tell you that my heart hurts today.  The why is irrelevant for the sake of what I'm trying to say; but it does hurt. There are at least two kinds of heart hurts I think: ( There is good news though beca...

What Really Matters

  Monday, October 22, 2012:  The date that I originally put this picture in a draft and saved it with the title "It's for real." I thought I was going to a place called the International House of Prayer in Kansas City for an internship.  I thought it was for real. I could barely believe it myself because I was planning to do something very far outside of my comfort zone, but it was for real.    I was going to be moving away from my family, hometown, most of my friends, and the familiarity of what I've spent the last 7 years knowing life to be. I'm not writing this post to tell the story of what happened or why in March, I'm still here, living with my family in my hometown with most of my friends and that familiarity still surrounding me. While I could explain the mental process of my decision not to go, I cannot tell you why I'm here instead of there right now, because even I don't know. I know that in c...