Selflessness in the Widow's Gift | Measuring Value

I'm writing in large part for you, siblings. I miss getting to talk God with y'all. So here's one way to try to compensate for this. Hope y'all talk back. So here are some thoughts on my reading of a couple days ago in Mark. They are hardly exhaustive, just touching on some themes I found interesting.

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Mark 12:41-44, 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.”

Now here is a beautiful example of one who did not put on a show, since I referred to putting on a spiritual shows in the last post. This widow hardly organized a fanfare when she offered her bits; people would probably have laughed if she had organized a parade only to drop into the box a 64th of a day’s wage. But she wasn’t giving her money to win the approbation of the crowd; she gave silently, and only Jesus noted. But only Jesus matters for it is He who judges these actions in the final day, not men. And Jesus knew what she was doing–giving her all to God.

God’s scale of value is so different from ours for, in our finiteness, we can only measure quantitatively; our qualitative measures are entirely relative because they are subjective and our subjectivity is riddled with sin. Only God can accurately measure quality for He has at His disposal all knowledge about everything to do with what He is currently examining. Therefore, while we humans most often resort to quantitative measures to define one’s devotion or worth, only God who knows the heart determines the true value, the qualitative value, of what we bring before Him.

This should both terrify and relieve us. Presenting to God a right heart is much harder than bringing Him massive quantities of valuable things (wealth, time, service, etc.) and this is terrifying. However, it should relieve us because we don’t have to invest a particular number of hours or amount of money before our service “becomes acceptable” to Him. God isn’t a rationalist who regards us as “good works” factories made to crank out the most number of good in the least amount of time with the least amount of input. What God values most is a Son-seeking heart, for His heart seeks the same thing ("He who loves Me shall be loved by my Father," John 14:21).