"And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
"And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
"And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
"For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had." (Luke 21: 1-4)
What's going on here?
This verse used to puzzle me greatly.
Was the widow prized because she gave all that she had?
God has declared in His Word that He needs nothing from us:
"For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
"I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
"If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof." (Psalm 50: 10-12)
and
"And Jacob vowed a
vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and
will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
"So that I come
again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:" (Genesis 28: 20-21)
Jacob expected God to meet his needs, and thus he would trust the Lord.
We have something better than material needs met:
"What shall we then
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
"He that spared not
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 31-32)
In a shadow of things to come, this widow gave all that she had because she trusted that the Lord would provide for her, just as Abraham trusted that the Lord would provide a sacrifice in place of Isaac (Genesis 22: 8)
So, we can cast all that we have, all our cares, all our needs, on Him who gave His own Son for us. This faith so pleases God (Hebrews 11: 6) and the Lord causes us to prosper with a little or with a lot (1 Samuel 14: 6)
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