II Samuel 24:24- "And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekel of silver."
In my opinion, these verses contain some of the most convicting words in all of Scripture. Because of David's sin in numbering the people, God had sent three days of pestilence upon Israel and Judah. When the angel who had brought the pestilence reached the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite (just outside of Jerusalem), God decided that it was enough and gave the order to stop. Thus, this was where David came to build an altar and offer a sacrifice to the Lord.
When David arrived, Araunah met him and offered to give him whatever he needed to offer the sacrifice to the Lord. However, David essentially responded that he would not offer something to the Lord that didn't cost him anything. This reply is what I find so convicting.
Why do we, many times, try to offer God what is left over after we've gotten all that we want? Many Christians want to serve God- as long as it doesn't cost them anything. This speaks VOLUMES about how important God really is to us, don't you think? Being a faithful Christian and servant of the Lord will, by default, cost us something. Time, money, effort- these are just a few of many possible things that are part of the cost of serving God. To just give him the "leftovers" that don't mean much to us is insulting to Him. This is why David refused to just take from Araunah what he needed for the sacrifice. Araunah was showing David honor as the king of Israel by making the offer. He was willing give the king something costly as a sign of his respect for David. What would it have said if David took this "easy way out" and didn't show God the same respect and honor that Araunah had shown him?
Let's examine our lives today. Are we just giving God our meaningless leftovers, or are we offering Him our best out of love and honor?
thanks for reminding us that giving GOD the leftover is ungodly and shows GOD just how little we love, care and respect HIM. WHEN we truly love and reverence GOD we will gladly give him Our VERY BEST and FIRST FRUITS of all we have. When WE GIVE GOD FIRST everything else will work out, GOD is ALWAYS on time every time.
if we would just stop five seconds and go back into our minds and remember what it was that Our LORD CAME TO EARTH and did for us, unselfishly, and with out any grudge. HE CAME WILLING and endured PAIN, Hatered, torture for US, and HE Did it willing without asking even one time WHY ME LORD... what if CHRIST had asked FATHER GOD EVEN ONE TIME WHY ME LORD.... how many times a day or even in a situation do we ask the question WHY ME LORD... what if GOD WOULD ASK WHY NOT YOU... after all look what MY CHILD DID FOR YOU... then WHY NOT YOU!!!!
SORRY PASTOR CHAD I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT THE SERMON OUR PASTOR PREACHED ON SUNDAY and your devotion brought it back to mind.