“And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on" (Mark 12:41-44 ESV).
The above verse is one that I’m sure you’ve seen many, many times before. I know I have. We know this passage is dealing specifically with the monetary offering of this woman, but I think it has a wonderful application in another area. I know the context of this passage is referring specifically to money but if you think about it, doesn’t this apply to our life as well? We are told that the widow “put in everything she had.” When I read this passage the other day I began to think about my own life. I asked myself “do I put in everything I have?” I’m not referring to money but rather effort. In my life do I give the Lord my all, or just out of my abundance? We ought to ask ourselves this question every single day and our response should be just like that of the widow’s who put in all that she had. There are two reasons we just put in all that we have in our life to the Lord.
The first reason we should offer our all is because of the example that has been set for us. Jesus during his lifetime gave everything he had, much to the enjoyment of his Father. Jesus healed others (Matthew 8:28ff, 12:13; Mark 3:10; etc.), taught others (Mark 11:17, 14:49; etc.), and even died for others (John 19; Luke 23; Mark 15; Matthew 27). Jesus set a pattern in his life of giving things his all. We should give our all as well because Jesus set that example for us.
The second reason we should offer our all is because God wants our all. The physician Luke wrote down these words of Jesus in Luke 9:23 “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (emphasis added). We are also told in the New Testament to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and to give our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). It is clear from these three passages that God doesn’t want only part of us. We are to daily take up our cross, pray all the time, and constantly give our bodies as a sacrifice to God. God wants us to give our all!
We give our all because of Jesus’ example and because God wants us to. How do we do this? We have to make the decision to do everything for the Lord each day. One thing you could do is pray that God will use you that day to work for Him. Another way you can give your all is to keep this verse on your heart at all times: “choose this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15). Write this verse down somewhere so that every time you see it you will remember that you have chosen this day to serve the Lord. These are only a couple of ways that we can give our all. If you find that there are some other ways that are better for you than do those things. The important thing for us is how much we offer. God doesn’t want a part of us, He wants the whole thing! We need to become a people who offers God our all.
