30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 21 1-4 THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL 07 Luke 21 3-4 God has to be our all
📖 Luke 21:1-4
29Apr2021 - *God has to be our all* - _Luke 21:1-4_ - THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL (7) – Bible reading: _Acts 17:28-31_
_Luke 21:3-4 So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; (4) for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty *put in all the livelihood that she had*."_
We’re now focusing our attention on this poor widow. Rich people had given much money into the treasury but this poor widow had put in a quarter of a penny (two mites), but Lord’s approval of her was, _So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all;_ The Lord had given her a glorious commendation.
What was the qualitative difference in the giving of this poor widow? What made this poor widow be worthy of such high praise from the Lord?
The poor widow had begun to drink deep from a precious stream. She was in a profound relationship with God that satisfied her and overwhelmed her. Her relationship with God was so fulfilling that she desired nothing else. Her closeness with God was all that mattered for her.
Many of us have not reached the place where this poor widow had reached. We’re still clinging on to this life, which is so temporal.
We’re anxiously trying to save ourselves. This is what we go to God for. “O, Lord, save us/protect us/keep us” is our cry these days.
We have not reached the place, where we are able to say that life is no more about saving it for ourselves but life is about losing it for God.
_Mar 8:35-37 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. (36) For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (37) Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?_
*For the poor widow, her soul was nourished in God*. She had arrived at the place of rest in God, where the pursuits after the material wellbeing of life, was of no importance to her.
To many of us, we are still pursuing the material wellbeing of this temporary life here on earth, though we call ourselves believers in Christ. We are desperately praying that everything in this temporal world should go well for us, when we ought to be rested in God, knowing that His will for us is the best.
Sometimes His will for us may be to protect us, sometimes His will for us may be to heal us from the virus and sometimes His will for us may be that we must depart from this temporal world and be with Him for eternity. Whatever may be His will for us, we can rejoice, for His will is the best.
Largely, we are no different from the people of the world, whose only concern is personal safety. When will we reach where this poor widow had reached? We ought to be markedly different from the world around us, who are in a state of panic, but for us, our well being is God.
Apostle Paul gives us the fundamental framework to life, as God’s holy people.
_Act 17:28-31 *for in Him we live and move and have our being*, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' (29) Therefore, since *we are the offspring of God*, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. (30) Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but *now commands all men everywhere to repent*, (31) because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."_
The church must repent. The repentance that the church must undergo today is to repent from our unwillingness to be cast entirely upon God. We want God for our own end objectives, for our needs to be met and for our issues to be resolved. We are not willing to say that our life is in God’s hands and we are rested.
Since we have not come to this place, we must repent.
God is reaching and reconciling a lost world through the church, who ought to be His demonstrative models of a community that is rested in God. Instead, we are not demonstrating that difference in us.
The rich young ruler came seeking eternal life. He never expected that having eternal life was based on where was his life was based. Was it God or was it money? So, when the Lord asked to let go of his money, he refused and forfeited eternal life.
God knows our hearts and He knows where our trust lies. Is it on God or is it on money?
This is why we must be cast on God for it is only God, who can change and heal us at the place of our trust. Many of us Christians are still not realizing that *if our trust in life is money, then, we do not have eternal life, however spiritual we may claim ourselves to be*.
_Mark 10:21-24 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." (22) But he was sad at this word, and *went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions*. (23) Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" (24) And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, *how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God*!_
Let us learn from the poor widow. She had arrived at the place where God was her all. We too need to reach the same place and join with her in drinking from the fount of living waters.
*Thought to ponder*
Are you still prescribing to God your needs and demands in life or have you rested your case with Him?