Above and Beyond

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box,and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’ Luke 21:1-4

Imagine if the widow in the story was someone you knew. Let’s say she is someone in your church. She is elderly and has been a widow for many years. She is living off of welfare, and has a tiny bit of money for things other than food, bills and regular giving to the church. Would you expect her to give her last bit of money to the church? Of course not. In fact, you would think she should treat herself to something she would enjoy with any extra money she had.

If this widow would not have put her last bit of money in the offering, would anyone have said, “What a selfish woman, she should be more generous!” Do you think God would be disappointed that she kept that money for herself?

There is a very important thing happening here. It is this: The widow understands how valuable it is to go beyond what is expected. You see, everything that we do here on earth has an eternal impact. God recognizes and evaluates every single little thing that we do while we are here on earth.

So, when making decisions about giving, serving, showing love, being kind and respecting others, it is important to remind yourself of this: My actions in this moment will have eternal consequences.

And ask yourself this question: Am I doing what is expected of me, or am I going above and beyond?

Just as Ecclesiastes says: go ahead, have fun and enjoy your life. Do what will make you happy, but keep in mind, everything you do on earth will be remembered when you are face to face with the Lord.

Disclaimer: I wrote this article over six years ago, and there were no references to other sources in the document, so I’m assuming it is my original work. However, it is possible this content is based on someone else’s work. I do not intend to plagiarize. If you believe this is the work of someone else, please let me know.