Studies by Book
Luke 21 1-4 THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL 01 Luke 21 1-4 Giving and being healed
📖 Luke 21:1-4
23Apr2021 - *Giving and being healed* - _Luke 21:1-4_ - THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL - _Romans 8:37-39_
We have completed the study of Christ, the Son of David. We saw how Jesus was King in the lineage of David and we too are priests and kings, as co-rulers with Christ, in the lineage of David.
We will title this new study as THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL.
_Luke 21:1-4 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, (2) and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. (3) 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."_
The Lord was watching and He saw details of the giving that was happening in the temple. In God’s eyes, giving is a crucial matter in our walk, our relationship, with God.
The Lord *saw the rich* – He saw their clothes, their mannerisms and He saw how much money they put into the treasury. He saw their heart, their attitude and motives, for nothing is hidden from His sight.
The Lord Jesus also *saw the poor widow*. He saw and knew that she was poor. The Lord saw and knew that she was a widow. He saw the exact amount that she gave and He saw the amount against the context of her entire life.
The Lord observed the big distinction between her giving and the giving of the rich people. The Lord saw it all.
This is important for us to note. Many of us think that God is not concerned about the amount of money that we give to the work of God. We think that God is concerned only about our heart in terms of giving.
Friends, let us be certain, the Lord sees everything about our giving. This is why we have much to learn from this incident.
The Lord sees our priorities in life. He sees to what we give significance in life and what is our ratio/scale of allocating our money to various aspects of our life in comparison to the amount that we apportion to the kingdom of God. Giving is a crucial matter before God.
Giving, from God’s perspective, is the measurement of our standing before God. Giving changes us and transforms us into the character and nature of Christ.
_II Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich._
God is rich, He is full and He is God of abundance. He has need of nothing. Yet in God’s heart, we are significant. He considers us as important and precious. He chose to empty Himself for us, came reaching out to us and has lavished His love on us. Giving Himself for us is the expression/demonstration of God’s prioritization of us to Him, over all else.
_Romans 8:37-39 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (38) For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, (39) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord._
If this is how Jesus loves us, He is expecting us to have the same heart, the same prioritisation for God, in our life.
Giving of money, to the work of God’s kingdom is where we express ourselves to God and we say, “Lord here I am, entirely for you”. *It is only when we release money, we are affirming our commitment to Christ*.
If our relationship with God and the expression of our commitment to God does not convert into the release/giving of money for the things of the kingdom of God, then our words of saying that we love God and we are here to serve Him is garbage.
*Am I willing to open my purse*, am I willing to give the money that I have in my hand, for the work of God? Many of us want to serve God but we keep the purse for ourselves. *Some of us are willing to serve God, but with somebody else’s money*. The Lord sees it all.
The widow, in this incident, had put into the treasury more than all. _Mark 12:42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. In British currency, this equals one-fourth of a penny. The amount that this widow had put into the treasury was of very little monetary value.
Though the worth of the money that this widow put into the treasury was of little worth, *it was still money*. Money has a way to take the place of God in our lives. Giving money is a key to bring healing, internally, to each of us.
*Thought to ponder*
```Is your purse surrendered and opened to God?```