When I received my quarterly giving statement, I was surprised to see that everything I gave as an offering to the church was tax deductible. Which got me thinking, if I am technically loaning money to the church that the government will pay me back for at the end of the year, is that really giving 10% to God? Or is it giving God a loan?
Tonight brings me to the story of the widow’s mite from Mark 12:41-44:
41″And Jesus sat opposite the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury; and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called until him his disciples, and said unto them, “This poor widow hath cast more in than all they who have cast into the treasury; 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”
Is time our widow’s mite? Time is something that we don’t get back. Once that time is spent, it’s gone. Money, though tight, can come back later through tax deductions. Which do we hold more in our praise? A person who contributes a lot of money to the church, or the person who gives no money, but as much time as they can spare.
