“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.”
With HGTV, everyone seems to want to redo their home, me included. A one hour television documentary of the job and we are all super excited to do the same thing on our house or garden. Watching the show is relatively free, maybe the cost of a cable subscription. But actually doing the job yourself, well, that is another story. Doing it yourself will cost you much more, not only in money and time, but in effort and patience as you climb the ladder of understanding. I have learned that some jobs are too big for me, period. The cost of DIY is too much to pay. Ring Ring, “hello Mr. Professional. I have a job for you.”
David committed a sin against God because he took a census of all the fighting men of Israel taking credit for the success himself instead of giving the credit to the Lord. Therefore, God struck Israel with a plague in the land. In response to the plague, David was going to build an alter on a threshing floor that belonged to Araunah. Araunah was going to give everything to David for free, but David insisted on purchasing it. He states in verse 24 that if he was going to sacrifice to Lord a burnt offering, he was going to make sure it cost him something. He then purchased the threshing floor, builds an alter, sacrifices a burnt offering, and the plague stops.
The Bible says that if we know the truth it will set us free. In other words, in order to be set free you must be bound with something to begin with. We all have truths that we hold on to that bind us and keep us from being free. We sometimes find ourselves wearing a spiritual straight jacket and the worst part is that we have walked with it for so long, we have become accustomed to it. Just like a when a prisoner gets out of prison for the first time in years, he or she has to adjust to how to live outside of prison. When you actually study the Bible and do what it says, you will find yourself understanding the truth from God’s Word and it frees you from the prison of your own shame.
Today, make an effort to find the truth about what the Bible says by studying it. You will find common men and women figuring out how to walk with God just like the rest of us. You will find that these people also experienced all the hardships of this life as well. You are not alone. The plagues will come and hardships will happen so lets try to build our house on the rock of the Word of God, not on certain pieces we seem to agree with at the time.
The sin cost David and Israel, but David humbled himself under the Lord and the plague stopped. Some of us need to stop being so hard hearted and humble yourselves under the Lord. Your way is not God’s way. Your way will cost you, God’s way will bless you.
Prayer: Father, today I humble myself and submit all my ways to you. I make you the pilot of my life and I want to follow your direction by listening to your Holy Spirit. I know that following you comes with a cost and that hardships will come into our lives, but we don’t have to let them rule over us. Rather, we choose to raise you up in worship, song, and truth so we can keep our minds on the things above and not on the things of this world that redirect our attention away from you. In Jesus name, amen
Let It Go 
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