Jesus sat in the temple near the treasury and watched as people
walked by and deposited their gifts for the temple (Mark 12).
Some made a show of it, perhaps so others could see how much
they had given. Just then a poor woman came by and threw in two
“mites.”
A mite was the least valuable coin in circulation. Thus the
widow’s gift was very small, amounting to nothing in most folk’s
eyes. But our Lord saw what others did not see. She had given
“all that she had” (Mark 12:44). The widow wasn’t trying to draw
attention to herself. She was simply doing what she was able to
do. And Jesus noticed!
We mustn’t forget that our Lord sees all that we do, though it
may seem very small. It may be nothing more than showing a
cheerful countenance in difficult times or an unnoticed act of
love and kindness to someone who happens to pass by. It may be a
brief, silent prayer for a neighbor in need.
Jesus said, “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds
before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward
from your Father in heaven. . . . But when you do a charitable
deed, . . . may [it] be in secret; and your Father who sees in
secret will Himself reward you openly” (Matt. 6:1-4). — David
H. Roper
May our gifts be sacrificial,
From our hearts, and full of love;
Secretive and never showy,
Pleasing our great God above. —Sper
God looks at the heart, not the hand; the giver, not the
gift.