30th Mar 26 | 13:54
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Luke 21 1-4 THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL 03 Luke 21 1-4 The gravity of giving
📖 Luke 21:1-4
25Apr2021 - *The gravity of giving* - _Luke 21:1-4_ - THE WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL (3) – Bible reading: _II Samuel 24:21-25_
Giving is the measurement of our commitment and our love for God. We can speak and preach about love for God but if it does not convert into the opening of our purse and giving of our money to the work of His kingdom, then all of our words are meaningless.
We need to be careful with the understanding of ‘measurement’.
Measurement, not in the sense of how much money do we give to the work of His kingdom, being directly equivalent to our love for God. That is not the measurement but measurement that of the total amount of money that is entrusted into our hands, what is the amount that we release to the work of His kingdom, in comparison to the financial commitments, that we allocate to the other pursuits of our life.
Though the amount of money that this widow put into the treasury was very small, of little worth, *it was still money*. *The amount that she gave was seen by the Lord in the light of what was her financial burdens and obligations to the other areas of her life*. This is the core teaching about giving, from this incident.
We will come to this core giving principle, later, but let us consider the matter of giving that is deliberate, intentional and also very public, which can be quite disturbing to some of us.
_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."_
Let us look at an example in the old testament.
A plague was ravaging Israel and many were killed. David accepted personal responsibility for this judgement of God on His people. David repented and it was told him to erect an altar to worship the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah, for the angel of God inflicting the plague was there.
_II Samuel 24:21-25 Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" And *David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people*." (22) Now Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. (23) All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the LORD your God accept you." (24) *Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing*." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. (25) And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel._
*David did not offer to the Lord anything that did not cost him*. Our offering to the Lord has to cost us.
Friend, does the offering that you give to the Lord, cost you? Has it called you to sacrifice and give up on certain other aspects of your life and dedicate that amount to the Lord? Or is your giving to the things of God’s kingdom, only what you can spare, what is excess, what you can give away?
This was how the rich people put into the treasury. They gave what was surplus for them. (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
God is calling us to take our giving for the work of His kingdom, very seriously. It has to be deliberate and intentional. What we are giving for the work of His kingdom must be weighed and compared with what we are putting aside for the other aspects of our life.
We then need to take a deliberate call to cut down/sacrifice/give up/let go on certain matters of our lifestyle and release this amount for the work of His kingdom.
This is what Barnabas did. _Acts 4:36-37 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, (37) having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet._
This was what the Lord had guided him to do and Barnabas obeyed God. *The action of Barnabas was done in public* and everyone knew exactly what Barnabas had done in terms of his prioritisation of giving for the work of God’s kingdom.
This action of Barnabas was having a ripple effect on the church and this was the effect that Ananias and Sapphira desired for themselves. They tried to make it look to the people that they too had given the same prioritisation for the work of God’s kingdom as Barnabas had done.
This is also where Ananias and Sapphira failed in their giving and God’s judgement was severe on them.
In all that we do, we must always keep in mind that we are not doing anything for the applause and praise from people but our giving is our commitment and love for God.
_Acts 5:1-4 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. (2) And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. (3) But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? (4) While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."_
Friends, giving is a weighty matter before God. He observes our giving, closely.
*Thought to ponder*
Is your giving happening out of serious consideration to priorities and is it out of sacrifice?