Someone has calculated that if the widow's 2 mites had been deposited in a bank at 4-percent interest compounded semiannually, by today it would have grown to the sum of $4.8 billion trillion. What potential there is in such a small investment when it's left to grow for a long time!

In a more significant sense, that widow's 2-mite investment continues to reproduce itself to this very day. Only eternity will reveal how many of God's people have been challenged by that woman's sacrifice, and have dared to follow her example.

With some, it may have been a commitment to greater stewardship of their money. With others, it may have been the giving of themselves and their talents in service to Christ and His kingdom. How can we begin to estimate the eternal value of all the good that such self-giving service has produced down through the centuries? Like the widow, the poorest and least-talented Christians can invest in eternity when what they give represents sacrifice, devotion, and love for Christ.

Let's not underestimate the potential our small contributions can make to the cause of Christ. Only in eternity will this world's true millionaires be revealed. Will we be among them?  — Dennis J. De Haan