Most of us have that one story in the Bible that we consider to be our favorite. For many, this is the story of Creation or Adam and Eve, since it was the very beginning. For some, it’s Jesus’ resurrection, for obvious reasons. For myself, Mark 12:41-44 will always be one of the most outstanding incidents told in the Bible. I encourage you to read through the story, but I’ll provide a brief summary for now:
A group of men and women had gathered to partake in offering at the temple’s treasury in Jerusalem. Many rich folks gave large sums of money, these sums meaning close to nothing to them due to their vast wealth. A poor woman came to the offering box however, and placed two small copper coins in the box, equivalent to a penny in total. The Lord saw this and called over His disciples, stating that “…this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.”
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This story is an incredible representation of what it means to truly surrender everything to Jesus. Regardless of where we are in our lives, what our various stress levels look like or even where we are standing in our relationships with the Lord, He wants everything. This means that He wants our words, our actions and the motive for all of these in our hearts. He wants us to “…love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). He wants us to “…worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). He wants us to trust him with everything:
“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” –Ephesians 5:17
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” –Jeremiah 29:11
Above all, however, God wants our willingness. He wants our willingness to go where He sends us, and He wants our willingness to truly let go of everything that we previously have believed or lived our lives based off of and completely surrender ourselves.
Remembering this daily, and reflecting on all that we’ve been provided with by the Lord is humbling. With those things in mind, having the honor to surrender everything that we have to Him is such an amazing thing that we need to take advantage of every single day.
