There is more than money involved in the story of the Widow’s Mite (Mark 12:41-44). It is a principle of life. It is the very heart of stewardship based on grace. All I am is His. As a redeemed person God owns it all. There is nothing in my life that does not first belong to Him. “For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because He owns it.” (1 Corinthians 6:20). If you are owned by Christ, that means your body, your mind, your time, your will, your talent and your material assets all belong to Christ. You belong to another and you own nothing. God owns it all.
The rich had given much, but it really cost them nothing for it was merely the “overflow” of their lavish accounts. The widow’s gift cost her everything––”her whole livelihood”. This lesson of Christ is vitally significant for us. God measures our giving not by how much we give, but by how much we have left over after we give! Grace giving is sacrificial giving. It is giving until it hurts.
Sacrificial giving has a kind of recklessness about it. It holds nothing back. It has learned to give as God gave to us. The greatest example is His Son (Philippians 2:5-8).
This attitude toward grace giving is at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It bids us come and surrender to Christ and trust Him with every need, every care, and every provision in life. It is total absolute trust in Him. “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Our day is no different than in Jesus’ day. Jesus warned against the craving to be somebody. The religious leaders wanted to be prominent, honored and wealthy. They lived for appearance, performance and status in life. Jesus rebuked their sham. He condemned religion for profit and gain. He was opposed to what-You-can-do-for-me, and what-can-I-get-out-of-it religion.
It has never entered most of our minds what God can do with us if we choose to surrender ourselves unreservedly to Him. Are you willing to abandon yourself to Him?
Robert Arthington of Leeds, a Cambridge graduate, lived in a single room, cooked his own meals and gave to foreign missions over approximately 2.5 million dollars. He wrote this, “Gladly would I make the floor my bed, a box my chair, and another box my table, rather than that men should perish for want of the knowledge of Christ.”
The man or woman who deeply desires to please the Lord will evidence this true spirituality by sacrificial giving, for their attitude will be the same as David’s in 2 Samuel 24:24: “. . . nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing” (WIL POUNDS)