By: Pastor David
In 2 Samuel 24, David is preparing to make a sacrifice to the Lord to atone for a particularly grievous sin. One of his subjects, Araunah, offers to present his own threshing floor and his own oxen so that David can use them for a sacrifice. But David’s response is telling: “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” (v. 24)
While David’s mode of worship (and the purpose therein) was different from our own, there is a truth here worth examining: true worship costs something. It costs our time and our attention. It might cost us our dignity, or our habit of sleeping in on the weekends. It requires us to repent of sin, or to forgive a brother or sister. Perhaps it costs us our preferences or our comfort. But like David, we oughtn’t be guilty of offering worship to God that does not come with effort born of holy affection.
After all, Jesus has already gone before us in offering to God the ultimate costly act of worship – the sacrifice of His body on the cross. He did not shrink back from giving away that which was most precious in the service of glorifying His Father. His Gospel has freed us and changed us so that we can do exactly that.