LUKE 21:4 THE GIFT OF BEING ABLE TO GIVE

THE GIFT OF BEING ABLE TO GIVE

For all these have of their abundance

cast in unto the offerings of God:

but she of her penury hath cast in

all the living that she had.

Luke 21:4

There is a little used word in the King James version of this verse. We know from the context (and more sermons than we can count) that the widow was impoverished; but we wanted to know the exact definition of “penury” and turned to our favorite dictionary for the answer:

American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828.

PEN'URY, noun [Latin penuria, from Gr. needy.]—Want of property; indigence; extreme poverty.

We both agreed that we had always pictured the widow as elderly, but as we searched for artist’s interpretations of the scene, many pictured her as still raising children. The Bible does not indicate her age at all. She may have been a young widow whose sons were not old enough to aid in her support or an elderly widow who either had no children or had outlived them. Neither Susan nor I are widowed, but we are single with a small income. We can identify with this woman who had a heart for God. She did not struggle to pay a tithe of what she had but generously, graciously gave it all. What faith! We are both convicted that we must give with an attitude of trusting rather than testing God. We both tithe, and we also give a tenth from the donations we receive for Precious Jewels Ministries to our local church. When the Lord impresses upon us to give above the tithe either to some program of our church, to another ministry endeavor, or to someone with greater need than we have, we give it and trust God to provide for us. Whether it be a meal shared with us, clothes given to us, or money sent by a friend just at our time of greatest need, God has always taken care of us.

Father, giving is one of the most enjoyable things about living for us. Our salvation, the opportunity to teach, and the privilege of giving all give us a rush. Thank You for providing for all our needs and enabling us to share with others.