30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 21 1-4 THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL 06 Luke 21 3-4 In God we trust
📖 Luke 21:1-4
28Apr2021 - *In God we trust* - _Luke 21:1-4_ - THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL (6) – Bible reading: _Mark 10:23-25_
Giving has much to do with our trust in God or money. Trusting God is a demonstration of our love for God.
We now come to the main thrust of the teaching that the Lord is bringing home to us from this incident of the giving of the poor widow. The Lord said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all”. Why did our Lord make this statement?
_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."_
The Lord explained and gave the reason why He said that the 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 need clarity on the difference between the rich and the poor. The world defines the rich and poor in economic terms, in terms of the access that a person has or does not have to facilities, resources, support systems and in several other ways. We can see the obvious difference between the poor and rich around us, by many of the outward material markers.
How does the word of God differentiate between the rich and the poor? *The difference between the rich and the poor, from God’s perspective, is on the basis of a person’s trust in God as opposed to trusting money*.
Listen to what the rich fool said, _Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." '_
Here we see a definition of who is rich. For the rich, having the comforts, safety, security, well-being of life sufficiently because of material resources, is being rich. The rich man defined himself by talking about the wellbeing of his soul.
The soul, which is the inner person and the person whom God created in His image, was now finding its rest in money. The rich fool had made his material goods, his trust.
_Luke 12:20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'_
God will take account of us for the status of our soul. Will the material things of life be able to give an account for our soul to God? Will we be able to tell God, “I had accumulated sufficient material goods. My soul was at rest?” The material things will not proceed to eternity and provide shelter for us before God.
Then the Lord said, _Luke 12:21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."_
A person must be rich towards God. Being rich towards God can never come from the increase of material goods. _Mar 10:23-25 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"_ What happened to the rich fool will happen to anyone who is trusting and chasing the material comforts and wellbeing of life.
_(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*! (25) It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."_
This does not mean that God is against riches or against those who are rich. Job, was a rich man but he ensured that his riches did not define him. Job was rich towards God and in his defence he says, _Job 31:24-25 “If I have made gold my hope, Or said to fine gold, 'You are my confidence’; (25) If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gained much;…_
The blessed advantage for the poor is that they can have faith in God, for they do not have the baggage of money or material comforts in life. This is why the Lord favours the poor.
The poor are rightly placed to be rich towards God. _James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brethren: *Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom* which He promised to those who love Him?_
*Faith in God and not faith in the material things is an expression of our love for God*. God knows our hearts. We think that we love God, by the outward rules and activities that we follow, which we have classified as spiritual, but the Lord weighs our hearts and He knows if we truly trust Him or do we trust the material things in life.
It is only the Lord who can change our hearts from trusting wealth to trusting Him. This is why we need to be cast upon Him, knowing that our hearts will deceive us into thinking that we are spiritual when we are actually pursuing material goals in life.
This is the reason the word of God warns us not to desire to be rich. _I Timothy 6:9 But *those who desire to be rich* fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition._
This fundamental difference between the rich and the poor is what emerges in this incident of the poor widow. She was demonstrating her trust in God. *Since she was demonstrating her trust in God, she was also demonstrating her love for God*. Since she demonstrated such great love for God the Lord certified that she has put in more than all.
Friends, the poor widow is showing us a path to follow. *A path of trust in God and not to trust the material resources of life*. How easy it is to follow the way of the rich, in this incident. They gave much because they had kept away enough for their own safety, security and wellbeing. Whereas, the poor widow, was establishing God as the central pivot for her life. God was her habitat, not matter.
*Thought to ponder*
With whom would you identify yourself in this story? With the rich or with the poor widow?