Giving What We Can

When the poor widow dropped her two coins into the offering Jesus was there, and He noticed that she gave more than the rich donors, because she gave ‘all she had to live on’. She did what she could, gave what she had, and God noticed.

God had also noticed the lonely shepherds on the hillside keeping watch over their flocks by night, and it was to them, first, that He sent the angels to announce the birth of His only begotten Son, Jesus, on that auspicious night. Although the shepherds must also have faithfully given their offerings for use in the Temple sacrifices, nobody ever noticed them. However, poor they might have been, but God noticed them!

God sees things quite differently from us. That which is praiseworthy in the eyes of man is of little value in the eyes of the Lord. The fact is that both the shepherds and the widow did what they could. They, in their turn and generation, all brought their sacrifices to the Temple of God. They gave what they could, and this was of great value in the eyes of the Lord. When they were despised in everyone else’s eyes, God honoured them by showing how much they meant to Him. In addition to a divine visitation, both are recorded in the pages of Holy writ with the highest accolade – far beyond what they could ever have dreamt. He saw them in secret, and rewarded them openly.

Maybe your offering, in whatever corner of the vineyard God has called you to serve Him, might not seem much in human estimation. But in the eyes of the Lord it is of the highest value. The widow’s mite is often seen as just giving money, but it’s much more than that. It’s obediently bringing your sacrifice - time, money, and work - to God, so that others can be blessed. It cost the widow all she had!

The day by day obedience of shepherds and others bringing their offerings to God, under Moses’ law, eventually brought the nation to the day when God revealed his only Son, Jesus, who would ‘save His people from their sins’, and through whom the Gentile world would be included in God’s great plan of salvation.

So, whatever God has called you to today, He sees when you’ve given Him your all. He sees when you’ve been obedient and done what He has asked. Your obedience is opening the door so that others can be blessed, and it counts in God’s estimation, because the deliverance, healing and restoration of others is at stake.

So, you’re making a difference, even if it doesn’t seem like it. You’re honouring God, contributing to His holy work, and it’s not going unnoticed in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the privilege of bringing our daily offerings to You. Help us to really understand what it is to give You our all, in loving obedience, that You may be glorified in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.