“And David said unto Jehovah, I have sinned greatly in that which I have done;: but now, O Jehovah, put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly” (2 Samuel 24:10). What remorse! What penitence! What an admission! David, a man who had been after God’s own heart, had failed again. This wasn’t his first venture into sin but it was the one sin that had the most wide reaching consequences. Because David ignored God’s instruction and numbered his people God “sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men” (vs. 15). I can only imagine the devastation those people experienced as a result of that decision.
Even David didn’t foresee just how wide reaching an impact his unfortunate decision would have. Verse 17 displays David’s shock at the extent of God’s wrath upon them for his sin and he did the only thing he knew to do. According to the word of God he went up to the home of a man named Araunah, purchased his threshingfloor and its contents, and offered sacrifices unto God to put an end to the widespread destruction among them. But there’s something in the course of that story that needs to be emphasized.
When David got to Araunah’s home Araunah couldn’t believe that the king was on his doorstep (vs. 21). He was so star struck (in the best possible way) by David’s presence that he offered everything he had to David free of charge, just for the simple pleasure of serving his king. He told him to take the oxen and the threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen to use for kindling – he wanted him to take anything he needed to accomplish his purpose. It was free, no strings attached. But David knew that didn’t fit his purpose. He was wanting to make a sacrifice and sacrifices don’t come for free.
So David responded to Araunah’s generous and reverential offer with this statement – “Nay; but I will verily buy it of thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto Jehovah my God which cost me nothing” (vs. 24). David knew something about sacrifice. True sacrifice costs us something.
As Christians we have been called to live sacrificial lives for God (Romans 12:1). Some of the New Testament could legitimately say that Christianity cost them their families, their jobs, their influence in their communities, their wealth, their time, and even their lives. Christians regularly and willingly suffered unimaginable atrocities for the sake of their faith and didn’t think twice about it. They endured, they sacrificed, they overcame. But what exactly is my Christianity costing me and what is your Christianity costing you?
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it?…So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:28,33).
-Andy