Food for Thought
Widow's Mite
by George Sinkie
Have
you ever considered the widows mite? Occasionally
you will hear of a Widows Mite collection?
This means give a little, just give your change. In
reality, that is about as far from what the widows mite
was as you can get. The widows mite is mentioned
in Mark 12 and in Luke 21.
Lets look at it from Mark
12:41-44, where it says in the NASB, And He (Jesus) sat down opposite the
treasury, and began observing how the multitude were putting
money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in
large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small
copper coins, which amount to a cent. And calling His disciples
to Him, He said to them, Truly
I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors
to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but
she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had
to live on.
The term mite KJV, in the NASB is small copper coins. The Greek word used here
is lepta. These coins were smaller in size than our dimes.
In value, they were individually worth 1/128th of a days
wage. If we figured $8.00/hour, eight hours/day, this would
be $.50.
A small value for sure, but the
key to this is found in Mark 12:44. This widow did not
just give some pocket change, she put in all she owned, all she had to
live on. The
reason Jesus complimented her was because her gift showed a total
reliance upon God to take care of her. The others
gave out of their surplus, but she gave out of her
poverty. Does God get your pocket change or does He get
your all?
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