A Sacrifice That Costs Nothing

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/2e27wb

When we were little children, our parents brought us to worship and Bible class. They instructed us in how to behave, how to sing, how to pay attention, how to pray. They also provided us with a small coin or maybe later a dollar bill to drop in the collect at the proper time.

I’ve seen several situations in worship where a child is unwilling to let go of their money for the collection. They seem more interested in keeping what they have recently acquired. Sometimes a parent has to wrestle the coin from their tightly clinched hand and then drop it in the plate.

Of course, as we grow older, we should see a deeper meaning in the process of giving an offering to the Lord. At some point, parents and others will give instruction on how to give from one’s own income and no longer simply giving what someone else has provided for you to give.

David faced a situation in 2 Samuel 24 where a sacrifice to the Lord was needed. David had committed a sin and seventy thousand men had died as a result. When the punishment of the plague was finally over, David sought to sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord.

The death process had ended near the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. Araunah was approached by David about making a sacrifice to the Lord. David wished to purchase the floor, build an altar and make his sacrifice.

Joyful that the plague had ended and eager to be of service to his king, Araunah offered to give the threshing floor and oxen to David for the sacrifice. He even offered to use the yokes of the oxen for wood for the fire.

But David would not accept these gifts. 2 Samuel 24:24-25 says:

“Then the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.”

David understood that a true sacrifice must come from us and not from others.

Paul expounds on our need for personal sacrifice in Romans 12:1-2:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

It’s ok to give someone else’s coin when you are a child. But when we are grown, we must learn to offer the sacrifice of ourselves, the sacrifices which do cost us something.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we always seek to give God our very best in every way and in every day.

Our thought for the day: “It is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.” Henry Ward Beecher.

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.