Skip to main content

The Poor Example


The tattered widow made her way to the Temple in the center of the city. As she brushed through the throng she was doing something she rarely had time to do or even wanted to do, rubbing shoulders with society. Most were poor like her. Some were of a much higher class and their fine clothes and sweet smells shouted their status.

She had reached a decision. She had come to a fork in the path of her simple life. One way lead to satisfying a vow she had made to God the other way lead to a quick fix, trying to satisfy her empty stomach. She decided to fight the uproar within and pay her vow.

Her petite frame squeezed through the crush at the huge Temple door and toward the offering box. There was a line. There were many Oohhs and aahh's as various large amounts were deposited by elegant looking men. She was now embarrassed.

She scraped through her dusty threadbare bag searching for her tiny gift. It was there, she knew it. It had to be there. It was all she had. If she didn't find it would it be a sign that it wasn't God's will that she gave it? NO! She had promised. God had been so good to her. Even in her humble condition God was faithful. He always supplied her need. The two coins would not be missed. God would provide. She knew it. She prayed it.

As she slipped closer to the huge box questions raced through her brain. "Why should I give? How will my contribution change anything? What difference will it make?"

It was her turn. She stepped from the shadow, her hand clutching the two half-pennies. Her fist was so hard that the coppers were nearly lost in the fold of her tiny hand. They stuck to her sweaty palm, then dropped.

Even in the hush of the moment their landing made no sound. She searched for the exit and quickly looked to the ground blushing as she fled.  It was over they were gone. Her vow paid. She headed home. "How will this work?" she wondered as she disappeared into the city rush her stomach growling.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

God Made Clothes

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Gen 3:21 I have always heard the following explanation of this verse.  Because Adam and Eve had sinned, they died spiritually. They also lost the right to be in the Garden of Eden and were cursed in other ways. For example, they had made clothes out of fig leaves, but God sacrificed a lamb; thus, God shed blood and made clothes. This sacrifice of an innocent lamb symbolized what Jesus Christ would do in the distant future.  Is this what you have heard? I don't know; it seems like this interpretation is stretching what Moses wrote in the above text. The text says that  God made clothes for Adam and his wife from skins.  We see no blood, we don't know what kind of skins, nor can I imagine God making an animal sacrifice. Did God have to skin animals to make these clothes? Or could he have just made them like he had everything else in the universe just a little while earlier?  To th...

Who did What?

We see Abraham lying at times. He twice told people that his wife was his sister. He was worried that someone might kill him because his old wife was so beautiful. In the text that I read today, he comes into territory ruled by Abimelek and tells the great fib. Not too long afterward, the king takes Sarah into his harem.  Lately, I have become interested in real estate investing and have learned quite a bit in the last few years. One crucial lesson acquired was that I need to treat investing as a business and not have too many sentimental attachments. Years ago, I would rent with a "charitable" mindset. I kept the rent low on my only rental because I was "helping people (friends) out." I kept that rent low for 20 years. For those years, that rent never moved from $650 a month.  Granted, we could keep the property and barely pay the maintenance and taxes, but the rent was low. It wasn't until I turned that property over to a property manager that I realized what ...

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...