Small. Minimal. Insignificant. Trivial. Unimportant. Irrelevant. Inconsequential.

These words may have been in her mind as the poor widow dropped the coins into the offering box. What the woman contributed was the smallest denomination of currency in use at the time. Each coin was less than a penny. The gift quite possibly left her without the means for her next meal. Her generosity is an example for us to follow. She could have given just one of the coins, but she was down to her last penny and she gave it all.

Huge. Maximum. Significant. Monumental. Important. Relevant. Useful.

These words point to the way Jesus viewed the widow’s action. Notice that Jesus sat down opposite the offering box. He stopped. He rested. He observed what people were doing and he noticed this poor widow.

Let the beauty of this scene wash over you. Maybe words like small, minimal, insignificant, trivial, unimportant, irrelevant, and inconsequential describe how you feel about what you have to offer God. But God does not judge you by your own standards, nor the standards of the world. He is observing what you are able to give, and his system of evaluation is different than our system. The giver matters more to him than the gift.

He noticed the poor widow’s heart, not what the gift could buy. He notices you, my sister, and he values whatever you give to him and to others in his name.