“The Servant’s Accounting”
Mark 12:35-44
“Assuredly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury.” – Mark 12:43
The Servant’s accounting is fundamentally different. “Two mites” were the equivalent of about an eighth of a cent! And yet our Lord said, “this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury.”
There are a few things to observe in this account. Firstly, the Lord doesn’t need our money. If He did, He would have said the opposite; that this poor widow gave little.
Secondly, it is not the amount that one gives that tells the tale; rather, it is the percentage. And what is the tale? Giving is a matter of the heart. Though the absolute value of the widow’s mite was small [in the world’s eyes]; the spiritual value was more than all who gave before her [in the Lord’s eyes]. She gave all she had. She gave 100%.
This shows that it is not the actual dollars and cents that the Lord is concerned with. He is concerned with the heart! Are we partly or fully invested? That’s the question, and according to Jesus there is a connection between the two. For He said elsewhere: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [Matt 6:21]
Years ago, a friend of mine applied Matt 6:21 to me this way: He said, “If you want to know your heart; open your check book.” And he certainly had a point. I have found it true; I invest my time and money on things and ones I love. So how am I investing in the Lord is a good question for me. What about you? “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Thirdly, as one of the verses in Matt Redman’s “Blessed Be the Name” song goes, “there is pain in the offering.” Think about the literal meaning of an offering. An offering was sacrificed unto the Lord. It was the blood of bulls and goats [in the Old Covenant]; and it is the blood of Jesus [in the New Covenant]. There for sure is pain in the offering.
The principle underscores that if our offering does not involve sacrifice; some kind of pain, then it really is not an offering. Because there is pain in the offering. And that is why this widow painfully “gave more than all those who had given in the treasury.”
The Servant’s accounting is a fundamentally different one.
