"and he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. many rich people put in large sums. and a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. and he called his disciples to him and said to them, “truly, i say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." - mark 12:41-44
now i am no expert poker player, but i have played a time or two and understand some of the basic concepts. as you play your hand, you bet your chips and money based on what you think your probability of winning is. i understand that at times, your bet is a bluff to try to get others to fold, but for the most part, your confidence in succeeding drives your bet amount. there are times when a player is fairly certain that they are going to win, so certain that they think it is worth it to bet all of their chips and go "all in." once you go all in, if you lose, then you are out. game over. so it is quite risky. in fact i am fairly certain that i would never go all in because i don't like losing, especially money. but that is beside the point. to go all in means you believe that what you are going all in for is the best.
the widow in the above passage went all in. though she only had two small coins to give, she put in all she had to live on because she believed that jesus was worth going all in for. jesus says she gave more than all the others because by giving all she had, she put more trust in jesus.
now that is risky. to give all that you have. to go all in. now i would never say that i don't think jesus is worth going all in for, but if i look at my life, i still hold back. perhaps i only give out of abundance so that i have a reserve to live off of that makes me feel secure - as if jesus can't provide for me. or perhaps i only give part of my time because i need some me time, and going all in would mean i would have less of that. perhaps what jesus is calling me to do is just too scary or seems to impossible. it will cost me too much. the reality is, there are still parts of my heart that don't want to go all in and trust jesus because i am still unsure if he is worth it.
the widow in the above passage went all in. though she only had two small coins to give, she put in all she had to live on because she believed that jesus was worth going all in for. jesus says she gave more than all the others because by giving all she had, she put more trust in jesus.
now that is risky. to give all that you have. to go all in. now i would never say that i don't think jesus is worth going all in for, but if i look at my life, i still hold back. perhaps i only give out of abundance so that i have a reserve to live off of that makes me feel secure - as if jesus can't provide for me. or perhaps i only give part of my time because i need some me time, and going all in would mean i would have less of that. perhaps what jesus is calling me to do is just too scary or seems to impossible. it will cost me too much. the reality is, there are still parts of my heart that don't want to go all in and trust jesus because i am still unsure if he is worth it.
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