Something in scripture that I found very interesting, was how often Jesus was in the temple treasury (John 8:20; Mark 12:41). Why the temple treasury? I was so intrigued that I researched the layout of the temple…..just to assuage my curiosity. I discovered that the treasury was located in The Court of Women, which was accessible to all who were ceremonially clean. All would enter through The Beautiful Gate to access the court. From the Court of Women, the men would proceed to the Men’s Court and from there the priests would enter the Priest’s Court. So here’s Jesus, in the temple treasury…a place accessible to all ceremonially clean Jews, sometimes teaching, sometimes watching. I’m reminded that for men and women alike, Jesus came to all who would receive His message.
On one of those occasions, something amazed the Lord. It was a poor widow giving two mites. It’s curious that such a meager offering would get His attention. Jesus saw many others who gave abundantly, but nothing touched His heart like the sacrifice of this poor widow. He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all, for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” From this passage, I see the principle that the Lord values our giving when it reflects a sacrifice. David understood this when he said, ‘I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing’. This poor widow gave all.
I sincerely believe that when Christians argue whether or not the 'tithe' is an acceptable New Testament practice they are completely missing the heart of God. Jesus didn’t ask the rich young ruler to give a tenth of what he had. He asked him to sale everything! And again, in the early church, the believers gathered as one, giving all their possessions for the benefit of the church. I believe that what pleases God is the heart that would sacrifice all because without question Jesus sacrificed all for us!
There’s another principle I see in scripture and that is, for God loving is giving and giving is loving. The Apostle Paul informs us in Romans 3:19, ‘For God so loved, that He gave…’ The Apostle John said, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. There is nothing of Himself that Jesus held back from us. And the reason given is love. It’s when we have developed a deep love relationship with our Lord that giving becomes a joy! We’ll gladly sacrifice all that we have for the One that we love who has given to us beyond measure.
There’s no greater love than when one would ‘lay down his life for his friends’ as Jesus did for us. John says that it’s by this sacrifice that we know what love is.
Be encouraged in your giving. Do so with joy, knowing that your sacrifice is God’s love language. For Him, to love is to give, to give is to love and He gave to us …. ALL !
Merry Christmas !
