In Luke 21:1-4, Jesus Christ showed us a very significant aspect of acceptable offering. It was in the temple that He witnessed people giving their offerings and among the multitude was a poor widow who offered only two mites. Of these multitude, Jesus Christ adjudged the offering of the poor widow as the best and He went ahead to tell the people why it was so; the others gave out of convenience but the poor widow, out of her penury, brought her all. When last did you give the widow's mites?
As against traditional belief, the widow's mite is the biggest offering that an individual can give and not the little he or she has to offer. It is an offering of sacrifice, faith and absolute surrender. This is the type of offering that Elijah commanded the widow of Zarephat to give in 1Kings 17:9-16. The widow had only a little meal that would barely be enough for herself and her son. That was the last meal they had and the hope of getting another was nowhere in sight. The man of God ordered that the widow should prepare a meal for him first. It was an impossible request but the woman obeyed the man of God and prepared a meal for Him. And the Heavens honoured her offering.
In 2Kings 4:8-17, the woman of Shunam offered the man of God comfort out of her abundance and the Lord had respect for her offering. It therefore follows that the widow's mite was an acceptable offering not solely because it was an offering out of penury. In 2Sam 24:18-25, David was a very wealthy king but he said he would not offer anything to God that does not cost him something. God honours offering from every class of people irrespective of their social or financial status.
In Gen 4:1-7, Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord. While Abel's offering was accepted, Cain's offering was rejected. Upon querying God for the non-acceptance of his offering, God told Cain that He would have had respect for his offering if only he had done well. It implies therefore that you must do well for God to accept your offering. The question now is, “How does one do well in given offering?”
In Pro 15:8, the Bible declares that God abhors the offering of the wicked but a righteous man's offering is His delight. Righteousness is a prerequisite to the acceptability of an offering. Even if you offer all of your belongings to God, it is tantamount to nothing in the absence of your righteousness. In assessing offerings, God observes the heart and not the hand. If God rejects the heart, the article that the hand carries is worthless to Him. Before God rejected the offering of Cain, He had first of all rejected him because his heart was not right with Him. Mal 3:2-4 explains that your ministerial calling notwithstanding, your offering will not be pleasant to God if it is not in righteousness.
Every offering in righteousness will yield corresponding reward when given with a willing and cheerful heart (2Cor 9:6-7). An offering done out of coercion or grudge is not acceptable to God. Irrespective of the quality or quantity, the condition of your heart confers value on your offering before God. Shalom!
