The Bible Edge
Everyone needs an Edge, Believers can have a Bible Edge
Luke 21:3
And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
In this series of “Life Lessons learned from Great People” it would be remiss to not mention this certain poor widow. Think about it, Jesus said that of the people that cast money into the treasury that she gave more than all of them. She gave the grand total of two mites which equals a farthing which is the value of two sparrows, it was not very valuable. But Jesus said that she …cast in more than they all… Others gave more than she did, no doubt, but our Lord pointed her out saying that she gave more than all the rich people did. Notice the Lord’s statement in the very next verse: Luke 21:4. 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.
Every time I have ever mentioned this certain poor widow, I always take a survey of the congregation by asking them, “By a show of hands, how many of you think that the Lord took care of her?” It’s always unanimous, everybody raises their hand. Of course, that is a very unscientific way to make a survey, but 100% of the people “surveyed” think that the Lord took care of this dear, poor woman’s needs. It is not difficult to think that God can take care of someone like her, but it is a very difficult thing indeed for a person to have the kind of faith that He will take care of them in a like manner.
There is no Biblical evidence that this woman’s needs were taken care of by the Lord. We just believe that they were. After all verses like Psalm 37:25, I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. A king penned that, King David. Or, Matthew 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Jesus said that. Many other verses could be shared to prove the same thing. God can, and will, take care of His children.
Ornan the Jebusite gave it all. King David wanted to purchase Ornan’s place of business to offer a sacrifice at the Word of God. In I Chronicles 21:23, God’s Word records: And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all. But David wouldn’t hear of it, giving Ornan six hundred shekels of gold. This is a physical picture of a spiritual truth. God is no borrower; that which is given, He returns as much and more again.
The lesson from this poor widow is this: the receiving of divine spiritual blessings cannot be controlled or manipulated, for that is God’s purview and His alone. But the giving part, that is in our control. The poor widow gave more than others because she gave all that she had. Now, that took tremendous faith.
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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