When David was looking to buy a location to have an altar to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, Araunah was going to give him the place. David refused the offer. He insisted on buying it. Not only did he insist on buying it, but 1 Chronicles 21:24 said he wanted to pay the “full price.” He did not want to offer to the Lord something that cost “nothing.”
When we offer something to God, does it cost us something? Is it something we give out of our surplus? Is it something just sitting around collecting dust or is it something that matters to us? Is it a sacrifice to us or something that never would have caught our attention? David could have had the land for free but what would it then have meant to David?
At what cost do you sacrifice to the Lord? Do you pay “full price” or do you give little? This question is not only about money. Time. Use of talents. Recreation. Family. 1The list goes on and on. So what is your cost?
“But the king replied to Araunah, ‘No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing.’ So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.” – 2 Samuel 24:24 [NLT]
Tania Gutekunst 