I don’t know about you, but I like to think I’m pretty sharp with how I handle money. I am a pretty good shopper and I can make a good deal. I’m not the best I’ve seen, though. I’ve seen better.
We’ve been talking about how we use temporal resources in our world and we’ve called this series Eternally Shrewd. To be shrewd means that we are clever, resourceful. We may even be cunning, or a bit under-handed. We get the results we want.
In this passage 2 really extreme things are happening. First Jesus is noticing something and he makes a point of it. He sees something no one else sees and he points it out to the disciples. But the second thing is this poor lady gave away everything she had to live on.
I can’t imagine the kind of guts that took. I want to be courageous, but I confess when it comes to money, I can be a coward. I want the courage of this lady, but I am afraid to ask for it. In one way, only having a penny would be a bad situation. But in another, Jesus makes a great point.
She put in all she had to live on. The next move is up to God. Jesus doesn’t even discuss it. She is dependent on God. Jesus also said in Matthew 6, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? Matthew 6:26 NASB.
Can we trust Jesus like a bird, or like this widow? And what do we miss if the answer is “No?”
To be eternally shrewd it would mean to make choices and take actions that produce the best result. Everywhere in scripture, I see God challenging me to trust him more, to give more away, to go big.
Today, I want to live more like that. You can pray about that for me, and I will pray about that for both of us. I hope God’s people live so radically different that every person notices. If you heard yesterday’s podcast, ask me what I did. Head over to https://twitter.com/mikehenrysr and ask.
Let’s work to be shrewd in the eyes of God. Let’s do the things he says even when they sound a bit crazy. That may mean taking a marketplace mission trip. Or getting some friends together to take one. God to www.MarketplaceMissionTrip.com to learn more and step out.
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