"He Sat Down Over Against The Treasury"

by Jarvis, A. G. | Category: General | Oct 1961

(Mark 12.41).

How very vital it is, in the matter of giving, to realize that the unerring scrutiny of the Lord is upon us, viewing not only our offering, but also the underlying motive, which determines the true value of the gift. There is no room for careless or haphazard giving when we realize that His eye sees every gift in the light of both the motive and the means of the giver.

Amongst the vessels of the sanctuary, conveyed across the desert in the days of Ezra, were "two vessels of fine bright brass (copper), precious as gold" (Ezra 8.27). What loving toil they represented! What devotion they revealed! Hence came the divine estimate, "precious as gold." It is still true that "the LORD seeth not as man seeth" and, in the matter of giving, love to Him is the supreme test. Ointment worth "above three hundred pence," or "two mites, which make a farthing," each revealed a love which called forth His unstinted praise (Mark 14.5; 12.42). As He sat over against the treasury, He saw not only what was put into it, but also what the donors had kept to themselves. This determined whether the giving involved sacrifice, and if so, the extent thereof. Hence came the Lord's verdict" more than all they." The rich had given much, but it was what they did not really need, whilst "she of her want did cast in all the living that she had."

In this prosperous material age, when much may be given, let not Christians think that any increase in giving money lessens their responsibility to give time and energy in the Lord's service. It is a well-known saying that "Time is money." Paul wrote commendably of the Macedonian saints in 2 Corinthians 8 that not only did they give "beyond their power," but "first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us by the will of God " (verses 3-5).

Gladly let us render to Him,

All we have and are.

Naught that I have mine own

I'd call I hold it for the Giver.

Love that transcends our highest powers,

Demands our heart, our life, our all.

are words easy to sing, but they must include not only money but time and talent and, above all, love.

Recently I read an arresting phrase - " Sacrificial giving," which set me thinking, how much of our giving is costly to ourselves? Surely all our giving should be a conscious expression of the truth that we, and all that we have, belong to the Lord. Let us again recall His words - " They all ... of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." Giving is a divine grace (2 Corinthians 8.1, 2). "See that ye abound in this grace also" (verse 7).

Jarvis, A. G. | Oct 1961
General