All They Had

Sunday, September 1, 2024

Good morning, Lord

Verse of the Day: Psalm 95:6-7

6 Come, let us bow down and worship him!

    Let us kneel before the Lord who made us.

7 He is our God,

    and we are the people he cares for,

    his sheep that walk by his side.

Memory verse: Psalm 42:2(New American Bible )

"My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When can I enter and see the face of God?"

Today's reading: Psalm 137-139 1 Corinthians 13

 All She Had(the widow’s mite, Mark 12:41-44)

(I wrote this in 2011 5 months after I started writing these in 2010 and thought we could look back. The story took place in January 1985.)

I walked the mile or so from our hotel to the edge of Tekax, Yucatan to the small house that was home to a seed church where I would be preaching through an interpreter for the week. I was enjoying the entire thing..the Mayan Indians are not dead, they just don’t live at the pyramids…the people are precious. The tallest man came to my chest and the tallest woman came to just over the top of my belt. So, I was enjoying being the largest human some of them had ever seen-you know, ego, and testosterone –big head atop a red neck…The men had given up a week’s pay to come to town to help with this event and had done a great job and had had to move a lectern outside because of the crowds.

I came around the corner greeting all as usual and in front of the pulpit on the ground was a live turkey—bound at the ankles-big turkey.

I stopped dead in my tracks and wheeled on my interpreter who held up a hand as if she could read my thoughts and said in her broken English, “It is their sacrifice”.

“Nobody will sacrifice a turkey in any service of mine”, I said, reflecting my ignorance  of the entire thing.

“No, Ponchito,” she whispered, “This would have been their entire food for a week—this is all they had- they brought it for you and your team”

Well…. lump in my throat…and there she was…in my mind’s tear, filled-eye...the widow putting in all she had…

_____________________________________

(today)

The widow's offering in Matthew 12 has meant much more to me since that day in Mexico. The impact of those folks giving all they had-a week's pay and a week's meat-and here we have been talking about 'high places' and our sin this week- in all our opulence.

Most folks of that culture did not know what they did not have-and they weren't missing anything the way I see it. They walked miles just to fellowship with other believers and rejoiced...

We need to go before God and ask Him to show us our real hearts-and the needs-basic needs of a servant in His kingdom.

...because He loves us...

Father in Heaven,

Holy, Holy, most high God, forgive me feelings of entitlement. Let me feel the humility of a real servant in Your kingdom. Let my heart be satisfied with Your bread for today. Lead me away from self satisfaction.

 Gentle and mighty Father,

In the name of Christ Jesus

Amen