God's Affirmation

Mark 12:41-44 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.”
 
WE have just considered Jesus’ condemnation of the teachers of the law for oppressing widows, taking away their homes. Now Mark turns our attention to the worshipful heart of a very poor widow. The coins she gave were mites. A mite is 1/64 of a denarius. A denarius was a common amount for a day’s wages. She only had two mites! And she was only required to put one in the offering box. But she offered both. Could any of us give all we have? Why, do you think Jesus was watching the offering? We can believe Jesus as fully God knew the time and the place to observe the woman’s faithful love for the LORD.
    Who comes to mind when you think of people in the Bible whose lives exhibited a worshipful love for God? There are certainly many heroes of the faith listed in Hebrews 11. Perhaps Abraham, Joseph and Joshua come to mind. 1 Samuel tells us of Hannah’s commitment to God as she prayed for a son. God even moved Ruth and Rahab, women born in pagan countries, to respond to God’s provision with faithful worship. A poor widow who deposited all her money at the LORD’s house is a wonderful addition to these and others Holy Scripture portray.
    How does God affirm you? When we go before God as we open the Bible, pray, attend church or do some act of service, we may have a tendency to consider the ways our weaknesses limit our love for God. Or we might consider it a self-righteous sin to think, “I am good at obeying God’s love commands when I…”
    Know this: your Father in heaven loves you and wants to affirm you. When as a parent or supervisor of children, what do you do when you instruct a child to  a task? Do you watch them to catch them disobeying or making a mistake? Or do you watch them to affirm them? A powerful motivation for a child or other person under your direction is to say, “Well done.” If you only criticize or correct mistakes, the person will be disheartened and feel inadequate. If you affirm the good things, you will inspire one to effective actions and a closer relationship with you. A positive heart does positive things.
    That’s why Jesus affirms the generous widow who gave from her heart. She was the opposite of the rich young ruler whose heart was on his wealth (Mark 10). The LORD affirms a loving heart willing to sacrifice the things of this world for God’s will to be done on earth.