SHEER EXTRAVAGANCE!
Opening Prayer
Open my eyes to see You in all Your splendor today, my King.
Read Luke 21:1–4
The Widow’s Offering
21 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Do you think of yourself as rich or poor? On what do you base your answer?The Jews – like many people today – believe that wealth indicates God’s favor and that poverty is a sign of his censure. But Jesus has already indicated something different. He has previously spoken out, for example, on the difficulty for a rich person in entering God’s kingdom (Luke 18:24, 25).
Although there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with being super-rich, the challenges to leading a godly life are many. Wealth offers a false sense of security, which easily blinds us to our dependence on God. Material possessions so readily take the place of God in our hearts. How does God measure our giving? From what Jesus says here, it’s related to the amount of sacrifice involved. The widow’s gift is sheer extravagance (4). It’s not what is given, but how it’s given.
Remember that there were many people in the Bible who were rich (Abraham, David, Barnabas, for example) but who still followed God wholeheartedly. Perhaps the truly rich are those who are completely free from the attraction of material gain.
Apply
What is your own definition of what it is to be truly rich? Look at 2 Corinthians 9:6, 7. This is Paul’s advice on giving. Is this advice you can adopt for yourself? What would that look like?
Closing prayer
God, all I have belongs to You. Help me to truly live that way.
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