“But the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” – 2 Samuel 24:24
In rejecting Araunah’s kind offer to supply everything needed for his sacrifice, David expressed a seemingly obvious principle that’s worth our attention today. Simply put, a sacrifice to God must actually be personally costly. A sacrifice must actually require us to sacrifice something we value. It should impact us. If it doesn’t impact us, it isn’t actually a sacrifice.
Why would this be relevant to Christians today? After all, we don’t sacrifice animals on an altar (thank you, Jesus!) It matters because we have been saved from our sins by the most costly sacrifice in the history of the universe – God’s sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross. Because of His sacrifice, everyone who trusts in Jesus is forgiven their sins and raised to new, eternal life. We are then called to respond to this mercy by presenting ourselves to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).
The proper biblically commanded response to God’s amazing grace and abundant mercy is to devote ourselves every day to living holy lives that represent and advance God’s Kingdom on earth by making disciples of Jesus. Every day should represent your personal sacrifice to Jesus. Not to earn anything from Him but to express love and gratitude toward Him. Every day should be filled with the joy of the Lord AND costly personal sacrifice. Life as a sacrifice must be costly to us – in terms of time, energy, and treasure.
Simply put, the practice of our faith in Jesus, while an incredible source of strength and joy should also be inconvenient for us. We should not limit our devotion and service to Jesus based on what’s comfortable, convenient, or easy to do. The way we serve the Lord should constrain us, limit us, and in some way have a notable impact on our lifestyle and free time. If it isn’t, we simply aren’t offering ourselves as living sacrifices. A sacrifice to God must be personally costly. Are you living sacrificially every day as a response to God’s mercy? #FollowJesus