“For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” Mark 12:44 (bold added) (from the story about the widow with 2 mites)
You’ve no doubt heard the expression about putting in your two cents, but maybe you haven’t heard the advice I’m about to give you. Don’t put in your two cents. I have read and studied the story countless times about how Jesus honored the widow who threw two mites into the treasury over the Pharisees who gave much more. He honored her because she gave out of her need while the others gave out of their frivolous excess. Little did I realize the much deeper meaning until the Holy Spirit opened my heart to see.
Many Bible translations use the words “all she had to live on” instead of “all her living.” Just as I had done so many times before, the focus is on what she needed to survive, in this case the two mites she could use to purchase her supplies. But the words “all her living” have a much deeper significance, don’t they? Strong’s concordance reveals the Greek word translated into “living” implies what one needs to survive, but the first and foremost definition is “life.” The Lord honors those who surrender their whole lives to Him, rather than just little bits of their lives here and there, doesn’t He? He doesn’t want the frivolous excess of our lives, but our entire lives, right?
How many of us are throwing two cents into the treasury of the Lord, giving Him a few minutes of our time once in a while, a little bit of our hearts when we remember, a hour in church perhaps, a quick look at the Bible from time to time to check that off our to-do list, while our hearts and lived are filled with an abundance of everything and everyone else? The widow gave her whole living. Are you doing the same with the Lord?
Further reading: Mark 12:41-44