2 Samuel 24:24–25: “Then the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.”

July 3rd, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

David sinned against the Lord when he numbered the people of Israel, and as a result a plague came on the people. When David saw this, he acknowledged his sin before the Lord and repented. He was told to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah and offer a sacrifice. David correctly understood that sacrifice is an essential part of repentance, worship, and service to God, which is why he demanded that Araunah take money for the site that would later become the place of the future temple.

David displayed an important principle for us. We also should give more to God than what is merely convenient, and it should be given out of a grateful heart. The longer we live, the more blessings we receive; therefore, the more we have to be thankful for. And also the longer we live, the more mistakes we make, the more people we hurt, the more wrong directions we take; therefore, the more we have to be forgiven of.

In the New Testament, Paul the Apostle realized this when he called himself the greatest sinner: “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Tim. 1:15). Paul meant that the worst sinner has already been saved, so we can’t use the excuse that we’re too sinful for God to save. John Newton, who had been a slave-ship captain, echoed this when he wrote, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound / That saved a wretch like me.” It is amazing grace! If God could and would save one like Paul and John Newton, then there is hope for you and me. Newton also wrote:

Our righteousness is in Him, and our hope depends, not upon the exercise of grace in us, but upon the fullness of grace and love in Him, and upon His obedience unto death.

Since this is true, how should we then serve Him? The answer is just as Jesus taught, “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27).

“LORD, we want to walk with You and serve You with everything we have. We want to be a living sacrifice to You.”