What Would Jesus Say About the Way I Give

Jesus saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said. Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.” Luke 21:1-4.

       Sunday morning, January 28, 1996, I stood in the church of God chapel in Chapultepec, Mexico. The children had settled into their places after Sunday school.

We had sung five songs and two brethren had prayed. Now we were singing again and people were placing coins in the offering basket. The six-inch straw basket designated to hold the offerings sat on a small table in front of the plain, homemade pulpit.

       The first one to put in an offering was a little girl whose father is an alcoholic. Then the bubbly, four-year-old grandson of Francesca came bouncing up the aisle and dropped his grandma’s offering in the basket. I watched Sister Josephine, (a widow who had no roof over her kitchen until the church in the U.S. supplied for it this Christmas). She was dressed as usual in a red hand-me-down dress and white shoes. She gives on offering every time she comes to church. Among the others who pressed forward was 85-year-old Don Romalo. His steps are unsure and he leans heavily on his cane for stability. In this condition, he goes uptown each day and cleans cars to have money to give. Suddenly a little boy dashed passed me and hurriedly dropped in a few coins. It was Fredrico’s son. Fredrico is a father of five—who has been out of work for about a month. (None of these people receives food stamps or welfare checks.)

       What deep, stirring thoughts I had while watching these poor ones giving “all their living.”

       I wondered if I felt somewhat like Jesus did when He watched the widow and said, ”this poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury.” Mark 12:43.

How much offering did you give to Jesus this week? Did you give “all your living?” or did you give “of your abundance”? Was your offering close to ten percent of your weekly income? Was it nearer to five percent? Perhaps you gave a total of one percent of the wages you earned.

I want Jesus to speak well of me, so I promised God that I would give more of my income to Him.

Have you ever wondered what Jesus might say if He was watching as you dropped in your offering?