May the mumbling commence!
When we bring our offerings to the
Lord it is important that they cost us something – whether the offerings are of
money or talents or time. If they don’t
cost us anything, then we are not offering the worship and praise to the Lord
that we are made to offer. Read about
David’s offering after his sin of ordering a census taken and after the plague
that struck the people of Israel. Read
from Second Samuel chapter twenty-four:
That day Gad came to David and said to him, "Go and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah
the Jebusite."
So David went to do what the Lord had commanded him. When Araunah saw
the king and his men coming toward him, he
came forward and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. "Why have you come, my lord?"
Araunah asked.
And David replied, "I have come to buy
your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so that the Lord
will stop the plague."
"Take it, my lord, and use it as you
wish," Araunah said to
David. "Here
are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing tools and ox
yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar.
I will give it all to you, and
may the Lord your God accept your
sacrifice."
But the king replied to Araunah, "No,
I insist on buying it, for I cannot present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing." So David paid
him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. David built an altar there to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and
peace offerings. And the Lord
answered his prayer, and the plague was stopped. (Verses 18-25)
Araunah offered David to give him
everything that he would need for the altar building and the sacrifice. David was doing what the Lord had called him
to do. God said nothing to David about
him buying the threshing floor or the offerings.
Yet, David knew that the altar and
the offering would be greatly diminished if he did not give something of
himself. From his wealth, David bought
the site and the offering and the materials to make the altar. David knew that it was his sin that started
this plague, so he was bound and determined that it cost him something to bring
the plague to a halt.
And the Lord listened to the prayer
of David. The plague ended. Praise God!
Ministry for the Lord often means
investing and reinvesting with our own resources. But, may we always remember that all that we
have we owe to God. Look at how Paul and
Barnabas invested and reinvested in the people of Derbe, Iconium, Lystra and
Antioch. Read from Acts chapter fourteen:
After preaching the Good News in Derbe and
making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas
returned again to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, where they
strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith,
reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many
tribulations. Paul and Barnabas also
appointed elders in every church and prayed for them with fasting,
turning them over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had come to
trust. (Verses 21-23)
They returned again. They returned to
strengthen the believers in these ancient cities. They doled out strength through encouragement
in faith against great odds and against great persecutions. They appointed elders for the churches. They poured themselves out in prayer and
fasting. They modeled how to turn
worries and cares over to the Lord. Talk
about reinvestment! May we be as careful
with our spiritual investments!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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