window into our soul

This morning, as I was reading the upcoming sermon text at Grace Church, Mark 12: 1-44, my heart began to meditate particularly on the story of the widow's offering in Mark 12:41-44. In this passage Jesus sitting and watching people put their money into the offering. As he was doing this he noticed a poor widow place 2 small coins, worth 1/64th of a laborer's wages, into the offering. When Jesus saw this he pulled his disciples aside 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.”

This story is not just a simple story about how we allocate our money but it is about how we order our life! This poor woman had no husband to depend on to provide for her, yet she gave all she had to the Lord. When this woman gave all she had, she proved that she lived with childlike faith in dependence upon a very able and faithful God. There was no murmuring as she dropped the coins into the plastic basket (which we use at Grace Church :) about how she was starving and needed dinner or that the mortgage was due in a week. How we handle our money can be a window into our soul! What this poor widow woman did with her money was the outworking of her faith, a faith that rested solidly upon her sure Saviour to provide for her every need, regardless of the fact that she was husbandless.

I suppose this story hit a little closer to home with me as I began to think of the many clients that I come in contact with on a daily basis. As a financial planner in the wealth management field, I see firsthand everyday how scores of individuals spend their wealth. Whether the client actually realizes it or not, a lot about a person can be determined by how they spend their capital. Therefore as believers, we need to remember that how we tithe (or the lack thereof) is not merely a duty to be done begrudgingly... Our finances reflect our faith!!!