...Neither will I offer burnt
offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.
2 Samuel 24:24
The bible declares in the book of
Rome that you should present your body a
living sacrifice; this message is one that we bring to the forefront of or
memories as we examine today’s text knowing that there is and should be a cost
involved when following the Lord… There is nothing that Jesus did for you
without a cost (even His very life); this same fact is what separates the
Christian from the non-believer… We claim to be a child of God, but we don’t
want to endure the expense that comes along with that claim… In studying this
verse I cannot help but to pose the question, how valuable is your relationship
with God…? How much do you treasure being in good standing with the Lord…? Are
you someone who attends church out of obligation or to pay true respect and
honor to the Lord…? These questions are questions that are posed all across the
world; however they are answered through actions not words, through devotion
and not presentation… This passage is written
at a time when David knew that he had sinned against God; he knew that he had
fallen short of His glory and understands that he had to restore his
relationship with God… We too have made many mistakes; we have damaged our
relationship with the Lord and the question now because “how bad do you want to
repair it…?” What does God’s love mean to you, how much do you want to show God
your appreciation and love…? What are you offering Him…? These are important
factors in our life that we too must come to understand; God deserves all of
our time and commitment because we have fallen short, he deserves the very best
we have because we turned our backs on Him and lost sight of His Grace and
Mercy! This is why David said I will not offer anything unto the Lord that cost
me nothing, he realized all that it cost God to save us from sin, he realized
all that God gave and invested in him to see him reign as King and he came to
the realization that he was throwing it all away… We must never forget that God gave His only begotten son, we must never
lose sight that Jesus died the most humiliating death known to man and all this
was done to save us from our eternal death… When I sit and really ponder
what God has done and how He bestows new mercies on us every morning I realize
that there is nothing of this earth that I shouldn’t give unto Him… I know that
God has given His very best in the form of His son and I dare not to
acknowledge His sacrifice with meaningless words or things… God wants your
heart, He wants your life; anything else is worthless…
The cost that David speaks of in this verse refers to the
amount that he puts out for the Lord… This doesn’t necessarily deal with money,
but the amount of energy, time, devotion that we pour out to studying God’s
word, praising His name and worshipping Him…
David had a right perspective of who
God is and what He means to him… So he wanted to show his devotion to the Lord
by paying for the land to be offered back to God… When we trust God, when we
desire to worship God we also act in faith knowing that God sees all things and
will reward us by our giving and devotion… Think about how precious the gift is
that God gave to you in the form of His son and ask yourself what gifts are you
giving to God… The only thing that God wants is you, you are the gift that He
desires and we give ourselves to Him by totally surrendering to His will and
way… This is where the cost comes in, I have often thought and told myself that
if it comes easy it isn’t what I need… Today,
know that offering yourself to Christ is going to cost you some friendships,
it’s going to cost you some fleshly desires and it’s going to cost you some
aches and pains… Do we know how much it cost God to raise us up out of the
pit of sin, how much it cost to release us from the handcuffs of death, and
pave a way to salvation! It cost Him His only son, it cost Him pain and anguish
to witness His son on the cross dying an agonizing and intensely painful death…
It cost God a great deal to watch His son be spit on, mocked and beat, it cost
God a great deal to see Him laid in a tomb and watch the throngs of people
mourning… It cost God more than we could ever offer Him and we surely could
never pay back to Him what He put out! Let us keep that in mind when we go to
church, let us keep that in mind when we put down our bibles instead of
reading, let us keep that in mind when we make God’s will and afterthought in
our life… How much does God mean to you? How much do you really believe He
poured out from on high to save you…? Show your belief in your actions and
service to the Lord… David said I will
not offer anything unless it cost me something, not because he wanted to spend,
but because he knew how much God had already spent!
BE BLESSED!!!
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