Proverbs - Everyday Wisdom - Money

Sermons Blog - Calvary

---

---

---

PDF Manuscript: Proverbs-Everyday Wisdom - Money

Imagine you’re a financial advisor. Today you have two appointments, first with an elderly woman and then a middle-aged man. The woman’s husband died six years ago. She says, “I have no more money. The cupboards are bare. These two dollars are all I have to live on, yet I feel as if God wants me to put them in the offering. What do you think?”

What would you tell her? Likely you’d say, “That’s very generous of you, but God gave you common sense. He knows your heart—that you want to give—but he intends you to take care of yourself. I’m sure God would have you keep those two dollars and buy food for tomorrow. You can’t expect him to just send down food from heaven, can you? God wants us to be sensible.”

Your next appointment is with a successful, hardworking, middle-aged farmer whose crop production has been excellent. He tells you, “I’m planning to tear down my old barns and build bigger ones so I can store up more crops and goods and have plenty saved up for the future. Then I can take it easy, retire early, and do some traveling and golfing. What do you think?”

How would you answer? Perhaps like this: “Sounds good to me! You’ve worked hard. God has blessed you with good crops. It’s your business, your crops, your money. If you can save up enough to take care of yourself the rest of your life, by all means go for it. I hope one day I’ll be in a position to do the same!”

Wouldn’t such advice to this poor widow and rich man appear reasonable? What would God have to say about it? Well, we don’t have to wonder, because the Bible tells us exactly what he says. In Mark 12 there’s a story about a poor widow. She put two tiny copper coins in the temple offering box. This was the only money she had. Jesus pointed her out to his disciples to teach them a lesson. Did he question the woman’s wisdom? Did he say she should have been more sensible than to surrender her only remaining resources? No. He commended her. “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put 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” (Mark 12:43-44).