Sacrificial Cost

Have you ever re-gifted a present? Have you ever ripped one of your music CDs and given it as a gift to a friend? Have you ever won tickets to an event you weren’t interested in and given them to someone as a present? I guess what I’m asking is, have you ever done something for someone where on the surface it looked like you made an effort, but in reality it cost you nothing? What if you found out that someone close to you did that to you? How would that make you feel? I bet you’d feel as if the gift was really no gift at all because a true gift should cost the giver something. David knew that, and he was not about to provide God with a sacrifice that demanded nothing of himself. He was not about to give God a gift that was really no gift at all. It says in Second Samuel chapter 24, verse 24:  

“But the king replied to Araunah, ‘No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.’”

Earlier, we learn that David went to Araunah to buy his threshing floor so that he could build an altar to the Lord in an effort to stop a plague on his people. Out of kindness, Araunah offered it to King David for free along with animals to burn as offerings to the Lord. But David knew that a sacrifice, or a gift, to God is not any gift at all if it cost him nothing. What are you offering to the Lord? Are you claiming that you are doing something for God, but in reality it is more for yourself? Or are you offering God something that is of no value to you as if you are doing him a favor? God doesn’t need our money, he doesn’t need our time, and he actually doesn’t need our love. But it is to our benefit that he desires these things from us. We can honor God by giving him, or sacrificing something, that is of value not only to the kingdom, but to us. I would encourage you to think about what you are doing in God’s name. Examine any ministry work you do, or any money that you are donating in his name. Are you doing it for him, or for yourself? Are you doing the ministry work with the wrong motives? Are you doing it to get closer to someone you like? Are you doing it to seem more important to those around you? Are you doing it because you’re getting paid to do it? If so, are you really doing it for God? In your financial giving, are you doing it to be thanked or praised by others? Would you still give if there were no tax write off, or free air miles attached to your gift? If so, are you really doing it for God? We all need to examine our motives when serving God, because we should never choose to offer God a sacrifice that costs us nothing.

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There are times when we do something in God’s name, it results in a win/win; the kingdom for which we are ministering gets something out of it, and we also get something out of it. I don’t think there is any inherent problem if that were to happen. But if that is a determining factor as to whether we would do it or not, we might want to ask ourself if it is really for God. It could’ve been a win/win for David to accept the free plot of land along with the free animals for the sacrifice. After all, he gets what he needs with no effort and God gets what he “needs”. But God is more concerned with our heart than our sacrifice. In fact God says in First Samuel that “obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.” So I would encourage you to avoid shortcuts when it comes to God. Whatever you do for him, do it with all of your heart, without desiring anything in return. That is the heart of a true servant.

Fallout of Sin

It is my belief that no believer wants to willingly sin. But when we do, we often think about how it has affected our relationship with God. We are ashamed of our actions and feel dirty inside. We, of course, pray for forgiveness and move on with our lives by trying to live according to God’s will. But what we often don’t take into account is the fallout that can, and often does occur, because of our sin. A good example of earthly fallout due to sinful behavior can be seen in 2 Samuel 12:11-12. This is when King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, which resulted in her getting pregnant. If that wasn’t enough, he made sure that her husband was killed in battle to cover up his sin. But God was not happy. Through the prophet Nathan, God says:

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give the to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.”

God also mentions that the sword will never depart from David’s house because of this sin – meaning that there will always be warring factions with his reign. And to top it off, the son that David and Bathsheba had together died as a result of the hand of the Lord. You see, though we may not know it, our sins may have greater consequences than we think. Yes, we grieve the Spirit when we sin, and our relationship with God is broken until we repent. But even beyond that, there are often consequences that we have to live with on earth; consequences like divorce, unwanted pregnancy, loss of a relationship, sickness, and a whole host of other things. I can’t say that there is always an earthly consequence, that we will always see the consequences or even that we’ll draw the connection between our sin and those consequence, but more often than not, I would argue that there is some earthly consequence that goes beyond our shame and guilt.

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There is more at stake when we sin than we may realize. You may think that your sin only affects you, or that it doesn’t really hurt anyone, but quite often there is some earthly fallout that goes along with the spiritual fallout. And that fallout can directly or indirectly effect someone’s life, negatively influence your behavior, or even change the course of your life. So, I challenge you to keep that in mind when you are tempted. Personally, I think it is bad enough to disappoint our God, but when there are even more consequences that may follow, that makes staying away from sin that much more desirable.

Friend and Master

Sometimes believers can fall into the trap of relating to God so much as our friend that we forget that he is also our master. I don’t know about you, but I cherish the fact that he allows, and even wants, us to feel comfortable around him. We can share with him our unfiltered thoughts and ideas. We can joke with him, let our hair down around him, and be ourselves with him. But God is also our master. He is holy in the greatest sense of the word. And even though he allows us to become comfortable with him, we should never forget that. David was reminded in second Samuel chapter 6, verses 6 and 7 where it says:

"When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God."

Even though God is our friend, we must also fear and revere him as a mighty and holy God. Just like fire can give us warmth and comfort, and can aid us and help us survive, it can also burn us. It can even kill us if we forget to respect it. Uzzah forgot to respect and revere God’s holiness. He forgot that God gave specific ground rules as to how to approach the ark; ground rules as to how to approach his holiness, and it cost him his life. I encourage you to heed this lesson; to know that God is your friend, but not to forget that he is also your master.

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Sometimes we need to be reminded that God is not just our friend, but that he is also our master. We are encouraged to be ourselves around him, but we also know that he is holy, sovereign and is to be reverently feared. David learned this the hard way. Uzzah didn’t set out to be irreverent. His act was an accident. And when he was killed, David became angry and afraid. He was immediately reminded of God’s holiness. In verse 13 it says that, “When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf”. David was struck so powerfully with the fear for the Lord that after every six steps he sacrificed to the Lord. I encourage you to guard yourself from ever acting irreverently toward God. Because even though he is our close friend, he is also our master.