2 Samuel 24:24 KJV
[24] And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
Science says that the higher you go, the cooler it becomes. God also has a view, and the experiences of the people in the bible make it clear that the higher or deeper you go with God, the more careful you have to be. This was the experience of David, a man that God Himself referred to as a man after His own heart. Yet, at the start of the chapter from where the verse above is taken, we read that God Himself incited David against His own people Israel. I am reminded again today to be careful of God. His rules of engagement are sancrosant; He will not bend the rules for anyone, no matter how special you think you are. Israel had sinned and needed to be punished, and a man whose heart was not fully committed to God at the time became the tool of punishment.
David was incited, and who is the man that can resist God? God has not yet made a thing that He cannot control or direct. David moved, and despite the view of Joab the commander of the army, who thought that it was not the right thing to do, the king prevailed, and he got the news he was looking for: nine months of cross-country census led to over a million and three hundred thousand fighting men. At least, that was a number that could make the heart of any mortal king glad. The world also says that there is strength in numbers. If David had paused for a moment, he would have remembered several times that God gave him victory, though he was hopelessly outnumbered. Why would a man who had been helped by God this way be quick to rely on just numbers for comfort and safety?
The damage was already done, and the just punishment had to be applied. God gave David 3 options, and it is instructive to note that the same God who was punishing was the same God David ran to for mercy. In that holds another life lesson: God will punish sin, no matter in whom it is found, but His love wil not let the sinner be destroyed, if the sinner truly returns to God. True repentance and a heart that continually seeks God's help to live right is what God will never despise. The punishment started, and seventy thousand had died before God relented. The angel was poised to strike when God said 'Enough'. We do not know, but maybe Araunah was next. This man knew he was fortunate, and was ready to give the entire floor to David to offer sacrifices as commanded by God.
Araunah offered David everything for free: oxen, threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. David, a product of God's mercy but a man who also understood divine rules of engagement, knew that if there was no price, it would not have value. David could have been killed too, but he was spared, and now had to offer a sacrifice of value to God, as an atonement for the sin of the people. There is a close likelihood to what Jesus did. We could say we did not pay anything to get what Christ delivered, but is it really free? It cost God His Son, and He looked away as His Son bore our sin. I cannot afford to belittle that sacrifice, or treat it with levity. Going forward, as a life that knows what it has received from God, I must live a life of sacrifice and total devotion to God. Nothing less than my best. What would I be willing to give up if God demands for it? God's time of favour is here.
No comments:
Post a Comment