TUESDAY

SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:41-44

It is one thing to feel that you do not have enough resources to meet an overwhelming need, as we saw in yesterday’s story. It is another to believe that what you do have simply does not matter. In the first case, you might think that with more quantity you could make a difference. In the second, you may feel so inadequate that you doubt your contribution counts at all.

In today’s passage, Jesus watches as people place their offerings into the temple treasury. Many well-to-do individuals give what appear to be generous gifts, and no doubt they are noticed. But Jesus also sees what others likely overlook. A poor widow steps forward and drops in two small copper coins. A small offering. A small impact. Hardly worth noticing. Except that Jesus notices.

Not in a superficial or transactional way, but in the way described in Matthew 10:42, where even the smallest act matters. As you reflect on today’s passage, consider the following:

• What did Jesus notice that so many others did not? What does this reveal about what God sees and values?

• How does our tendency to overlook what Jesus sees affect the way we relate to people like the widow in this story?

• In what ways are people like her in our world today denied the dignity that Jesus gave her, whether through neglect, assumptions, or unequal treatment?

• Have you observed, or perhaps participated in, situations where greater honor is given to comfortable, visible givers over those who quietly give what they can?

• To what extent do you recognize that seemingly small acts can carry profound impact, for yourself or for others?

• Why do you think someone with so little would still choose to give faithfully?

• As you reflect on this passage, what do you sense God inviting you to notice, reconsider, or take more seriously?

Take a few moments to share with God in prayer what is surfacing for you as you reflect on this story.