And He saw also a poor widow putting in two mites (copper coins). – Luke 21:2, Amplified Bible (AMP)

One person can make a difference.

On February 7, 2014, 9-year-old Myles Eckert and his family entered a Cracker Barrell restaurant in Ohio. Myles was rather excited upon entering the eatery, for he had just found a $20 bill in the parking lot. In a recent interview with CBS News, Myles admitted that his first thought was to use the money to buy a new video game. But, a few minutes later, his changed his mind.

Upon witnessing a soldier and his family enter the Cracker Barrell, Myles decided to give Lt. Colonel Frank Daly the money. Myles delivered the $20 with the following note:

Dear Soldier,

My dad was a soldier. He is in heaven now. I found this $20 in the parking lot when we got here.

We like to pay it forward in our family. It’s your lucky day! Thank you for your service.

Myles Eckert, a gold star kid.

In the roughly three months since he engaged in his random act of kindness, thousands of people have offered to give Myles his $20 back. Not wanting the money for themselves, Myles and his mother, Tiffany, have asked that all donations be forwarded to Snowball Express, a charity that helps children who’ve lost a parent to war. Thanks to the Eckert family’s request, Snowball Express has raised over $250,000 to date as a result of one boy’s desire to honor his father’s memory.

Myles didn’t set out to be an inspiration. He set out to make a difference in one person’s life. The widow of Luke 21 didn’t set out to be an inspiration either, but her act of faithfulness in the midst of poverty has been an example to millions for millennia. In times of strength, and in times of weakness, there are always those pressures of life that tempt us not to give to others. Yet giving of our time, our treasure, and our talent is what God would have us to do. Nowhere in the Bible does God honor greed over giving. Instead, He encourages us to give of ourselves, even when it is not convenient.

In the battle for souls, 1 Peter 3:15 teaches us to be ready to give answer to anyone who asks us to account for the hope that is in us. As part of that battle, we should also be ready to give of ourselves when God asks us to do so, and by doing so we will honor Him for that hope which He has given us.

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