“He (Jesus) looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4  

A little child in church for the first time watched as the ushers passed the offering plates. When they neared the pew where he sat, the youngster piped up so that everyone could hear: “Don’t pay for me Daddy, I’m under five.” 

A little boy was attending his first wedding. After the service, his cousin asked him, “How many women can a man marry?” “Sixteen,”the boy responded. His cousin was amazed that he had an answer so quickly. “How do you know that?” “Easy,” the little boy said. ”All you have to do is add it up, like the Bishop said:  4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer.”  

Can you believe there are people who won’t come to church because they think they have to be able to put money in the offering plate? It is true. I have had people tell me just that — “Pastor I wanted to come to church but I didn’t have anything to put into the offering plate”. My friends, we have many things that we can offer to G-d — things other than monetary gifts. We have the gift of ourselves — offering our thoughts, minds, and bodies to the work of the Lord. We can offer our time — arranging our schedules so we put serving the Lord as a priority, rather than giving the Lord what we have left. We can offer prayer and devotion — taking time to pray, read the Bible, attend Bible study, and sharing our insights with others.   

One of the things you will be doing in 2018, I hope, is taking some time to re-prioritize your schedule — adding time for exercise, adding time for more sleep, and adding more time to spend with G-d. I hope you can find some ways that you can give more to G-d: more of your time, your prayers, your devotion, and yes your gifts of talent and treasure.   

Pastor Dave