Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why Giving Matters | New Testament | Luke 21

Episode Date: April 17, 2023

What will you be remembered for when you die? How do you act when no one is watching? What is your legacy? In today's episode, Keith uses Luke 21 to discuss giving and the importance of motives behind giving. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Luke 21

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. Do you like people watching? I love to watch people, especially in big, diverse cities. Although it sounds kind of creepy, I'm sure, you know, people watching isn't weird at all. People watching is simply observing other people, and I enjoy seeing how other people live and the choices they make. It reminds me that it's a big world, and everybody out there is not like me.

Jesus was a people watcher. He was always observing how people lived. Listen to Luke 21, verse 1. While Jesus was in the temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Because of the Passover, the temple was crowded with people, those who lived in Jerusalem, as well as those who had traveled in from the countryside for the religious holiday, all crowded around these collection boxes, eager to donate their ties and offerings. Jesus was near enough that he could watch what was happening without anyone taking notice of him. No one in the crowd realized that they were being watched, but they were. God is watching us too. He watches us all the time. Even when no one else is watching us, God is. Psalm 139 verse 2. You know when I sit down

or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I'm far away. God doesn't just see our actions. He also sees in our hearts so that he can see our motion. Proverbs 162. All a person's ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. So when Jesus was watching, what did he see? Well, verse one again, while Jesus was in the temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. So people were giving money, and I'm sure some of them had noble motives. In other words, they were giving for all kinds of good reasons, but some probably were giving from less than noble motives. Some were giving their gift in order to be seen. Whenever we do good things in front of other people, it's always possible that

the public nature corrupts our motives. Now, please don't misunderstand. Public giving isn't bad in and of itself. Think about all the ways we benefit from people who give large gifts to good causes and their names are attached to the gifts. While we don't know people's motivations, we should always be thankful for their generosity. We just have to be aware that God cares about what we do and why we do it. That's why the proverb doesn't say God loves a giver, but God loves a cheerful giver. So back to Luke 21, now for verse 2. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. As Jesus was watching, not only did he see the rich give, but he also saw that this widow give a very small amount of money. It's likely that the way the woman was dressed

made it clear to everyone that her husband had died and she was alone in the world. To be a widow at this time usually meant being resigned to a life of poverty. Jesus noticed that she gave two small coins. After she'd given her offering, the temple wasn't any richer, but she was far poorer, for she had given all that she had. Verse three, I tell you the truth, Jesus said, this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them, for they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has. How could Jesus say that she put in more when clearly she put in less? He's taking into account what her gift cost her. The other people they gave out of their surplus, but this woman, she gave out of her poverty. This is an encouragement to those of us

who don't have as many financial resources. Our gifts are seen and honored by God. All gifts, no matter how big or small, are honored by God. It's also a rebuke to the rich who give in a way that doesn't cost them anything. See, when it comes to giving, your heart matters. I've already mentioned that God loves a cheerful giver. That's remarkably different than, say, when we pay our bills. The mortgage company or the grocery store just wants your money. God wants your heart. First Corinthians three, Paul says, if I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrifice my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing. Do you see that Paul is saying the same thing Jesus did? God doesn't just care about what you do, but why you do it.

Giving that pleases God always costs us something. Can I read you a paragraph from C.S. Lewis? Here's what Lewis writes. He says, I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I'm afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusement is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own. We are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say that they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do them because our charitable expenditure excludes them. Another thing we see is that God multiplies our gifts. He takes our giving and uses it to change people's lives. It's similar to how he took

the loaves of bread and fish the disciples offered him and fed thousands and thousands of people. God takes our financial gifts and uses them to work spiritually in people's lives. The earliest Christians understood what Jesus was teaching in this story about the widow. It listened to 2 Corinthians 8. Paul writes, Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done throughout the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. but they are also filled with abundant joy which is overflowed in rich generosity for i can testify that they

gave not only what they could afford but far more and they did it of their own free will they begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in jerusalem they did even more than we had hoped for their first action was to give themselves to the lord and to us just as god wanted them to do. Do you hear that? They gave themselves first to the Lord. That's one reason in giving is so important. It's a way that we show that we give our whole life to God. There's a fundamental connection between our spiritual lives and how we think about and handle money. We may try to divorce our faith and our finances, but God sees them as inseparable. Do you think this woman regretted her giving? I ask that because I think many of us see her generous gift and think she might have been irresponsible.

as if she made a mistake by giving all that she had. If you had been standing next to her right before she gave those two small coins, and she asked you, should I give this to God? What would you have said? I think many of us would have said, hey, don't do it. God knows your heart. You don't actually need to give the money. But Jesus didn't say that, did he?

No, Jesus commended her. So back to our question. Do you think she regretted giving generously to God? How about this? Five minutes after she died, do you think? she regretted it? Randy Alcorn tells a story of a guy named Alfred Nobel. In 1988, Nobel was a Swedish chemist who had made his fortune inventing and producing

dynamite. Alfred's brother died, and he read an obituary in a French newspaper, but it turned out that the newspaper had made a mistake, and instead of putting his brother's name, the newspaper said that Alfred Nobel had died. So imagine reading your own abeture. The headline read, The Merchant of Death is Dead. Alfred Nobel's obituary described a man who had gotten rich by helping people kill one another. Shaken by the appraisal of his own life, Nobel resolved to use his wealth to change his legacy.

And when he actually died eight years later, he left more than $9 million to fund awards for people whose work benefited humanity. The awards became known as the Nobel Prizes. Alfred Nobel had the rare opportunity to assess his life's story at its supposed end while still having a chance to change his life story. Before his life was over, Nobel made sure that he invested his wealth in something of lasting value. You have a chance to invest your wealth now in something of lasting value. You can invest it in God's work, in God's kingdom. you see five minutes after we die we'll know exactly how we should have lived but god has given us his word so that we don't have to wait to die to find out so ask yourself five minutes after i

die what will i wish i had given away while i still had the chance when you come up with an answer why not just give that away now why not spend the rest of your life closing the gap between what you'll wish you would have given away and what you're really giving away. Alfred Nobel managed to change his legacy in this world, but you and I, we have a far more strategic opportunity to change our legacy in the world to come. Hey, thanks for listening. If you want to go deeper, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talk newsletter. You'll get a short email once a week.

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