Today’s Reading: 1 Chronicles 21
The angel of
the Lord instructed
David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on
the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. In the Bible, there was no
machinery, so the process of separating the grain from the straw and husks was
done on a smooth, flat, hard surface known as the threshing floor.
So David went up to
do what the Lord had
commanded him. When Araunah, who was busy threshing wheat at the time, saw
David approaching, he left his threshing floor and bowed before David with his
face to the ground. David then offered to buy the threshing floor from Araunah
for the amount of its full market value. At first, Araunah declined David’s
offer and offered to let him have it for free. But David refused saying, “No. I’m buying it from you, and
at the full market price. I’m not going to offer God sacrifices that are no
sacrifice.”
As
king, David could have confiscated anything he needed without cost. Here was an
offer for a threshing floor – and it was free. But He was
not willing to build an altar to the Lord when it cost him nothing. This
tells us so much about David’s true heart. As followers of Christ, we need to
keep coming back to this truth – it is not true giving if it costs me nothing.
When we give to the Lord or to the needs of others, it is only when it truly
costs me something that it is true sacrificial giving.
So
often we give to God from our surplus. Perhaps we throw a five-dollar bill into
the collection plate on Sunday. Or we give twenty dollars to a homeless person
on the street. In reality, these types of gifts don’t cost us much, if
anything. But when was the last time you gave to the Lord and it really cost
you something? When was the last time you had to “go without” in order to give
to someone in need? When was the last time you dug into your “nest egg” to make
an investment in the work of the Lord?
Perhaps
it is time to assess your own heart on this matter of giving. Perhaps you need
to make a sacrifice to the Lord that costs you in terms of your time, talent,
or treasure. It is not a true sacrifice if it costs you nothing. The investment
we make in worship to our God conveys the value we place on our relationship
with Him.
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