Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.” However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the Lord was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel. 2 Samuel 24:23-25
When we were kids shopping in the little sleepy town of San Felipe, Mexico… we learned how to say “how much does it cost”? “Cuanto cuesta?”. What something costs matters beyond the marketplace. David had received mercy from God. In response to God’s goodness, David went up to the threshing floor to offer a sacrifice of praise. Araunah, was willing to give David what he needed without cost, probably because David was king. I love the heart of David. “I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God, which cost me nothing”. David realized that in order to give something of meaning to God, it had to be from him, not someone else. Because it cost him, it had value as a gift.
Oh that I would realize how wonderful it is to work or strive and achieve and then to give it to the God who made me?!
Lord Jesus, You gave of Yourself. I am learning to do the same. Again today, I am realizing that the measure of a life is not in accumulation, but rather in donation. God, I want to give you precious things that actually cost me something.
