There’s a scene in the Bible where David, King of Israel, messes up (which he often did), and causes an epidemic to be unleashed upon his nation.
As the epidemic spreads and people continue to die, David cries out to God for mercy, and God, in His compassion, steps in.
The curse is stopped.
At this point of time, David is near a threshing floor belonging to a man named Araunah.
David promptly obeys.
He goes up to Araunah, who bows down to honour his king.
“Give me the site of the threshing floor so I can build an altar to God. Charge me the market price; we’re going to put an end to this disaster,” David says.
“O Master, my king,” Araunah replies, “just take it; do whatever you want with it!
It seems like a valid proposition. David is, in fact, Araunah’s king. Araunah owes him allegiance and wants to honour him by freely offering his property to David.
But David knows what it means to build an altar. He knows, in his heart, that an altar is a place of sacrifice.
So he replies, “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.”
He tells Araunah that he will not make an offering that costs him nothing.
Now, isn’t that what a sacrifice is, by definition?
Isn’t it sacrificial?
What is our offering to God if it does not cost us something? What is the point of giving to God if all we’re giving is leftovers?
Should not a sacrifice cause us some sort of inconvenience?
Because if it doesn’t, it isn’t really a sacrifice.
Whether it’s our time, our money, our energy, position, comfort, respect, or anything else – what would it look like to give till it hurt us?
That’s what Jesus did, didn’t He? He gave till He bled out completely. And He did that for you.
When we bring an offering to God, let it not be said of us that we brought it at no cost to ourselves.
That’s the meaning of a sacrifice.
David understood that. Jesus lived it out.
It’s our turn.
