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value of a coin? How can it be made to accomplish th e most? How can you in vest it and where? (a) Sizing up the Gift. vs. 1-2. - Jesus saw it. He was watching the gifts which were being put. into th e basket. He was looking a t the people and sizing things up. He saw the Scribes and Pharisees. He saw th e Pharisee, perhaps, who stood in the Temple and told th e Publican what a good man he was; how he gave tithes, how he fasted, etc., etc. There were all kinds of people, of course,, and all kinds of gifts, but th is is th e only gift th a t our Lord recorded. He saw a widow giving two mites, a q u arte r of a farthing. No doubt some pompous fellow smiled a t her offering, as he dropped in his pound. She was a nobody, in the esti mate of the Pharisees and of th e crowd. She was nothing, not worthy a second look. She dropped h er offering and crept away, and the crowd never noticed or cared. She was too insignificant to give a second thought to, but she was th e only ope whom the Lord commended. She gave a wonderful gift. Wherever the Gospel has gone for nearly two thousand years, her g ift has been re garded as the g reatest offering. This is a companion picture to th a t of Mary and her alab aster box of ointment. (b) Summary of th e Gift, vs. 3, 4. There are some precious lessons for us in th is little temple scene. Our Lord sees the little things of our lives. L ittle things often are th e seeds which produce g reat things. God has His own scale in which He estimates values. The least of all was the most of all. Your eyes may be upon the Temple or the g reat church building, bu t His eyes are on the worshippers. It is not th e money value, bu t the moral quality of th e gift which counts. Back of her gift was her h ea rt and in
her h eart was love and h er gift was a love gift. She could have dropped one m ite in and have kept the' other, and no one but the Lord would have known it. The pennies in the offering baskets of the church do not usually ring as this one did. You can hide your gifts to God from men, bu t He keeps books and has it all recorded. One of the saddest sights imaginable is the. picture of th e saints when they rconfront the record of th e ir use of their faculties, powers and money. Every m an’s work shall be tried by fire (I Cor. 3 :1 3 ). The widow did w ith her m ight what her hands found to do. The Lord took g reat pleasure in look ing into her h eart as she put her all in the box. It is wise to make th e most of the con trast between th is picture and the one given in Luke 20:45-47. “ T h e n in th e a u d ien ce o f a ll the h e said un to his d iscip les, B ew are o f th e scrib es, which d w a lk in I o n s : ro b es , a n d lo v e g r e the ma rkets, a n d th e h ig h e st s e a sy n a g o g u e s, a n d th e c h ie f ro o m s W h ic h d e v o u r W i d o w s ’ hou ses a she w mak e lo n g pra yer s; th e s a re ce ive gr e a te r d a m n a ti o n .” and the one in the following verses, (Luke 21:5-6) “ A n d a s s om e spake o f t h e te m i t w a s a d o r n e d w it h g o o d ly sto g i f t s , he s a id , As for th e se t h in g s wh ich y e th e da ys w i l l c o m e , in th e which sh a ll not be l e f t o n e st o ne u p o n t ha t sh a ll not b e thr own d o w n . ” Now let us look into our own hearts and see what our h earts are offering to our Lord, who gave H imself for us. QUESTIONS (1) Why did the Jewish leaders watch Him? (Psa. 37:32.) (2) Should we seek to plqase inen or God? (Gal. 1:10.) (3) W hat should be our a ttitu d e as citizens and Christiana? (Prov. 24: 21 and 1 Cor. 10:31.) (4 ) How should we be guided in our speech? (Col. 4:6.)
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