In my reading a few days ago, I read this verse, (2 Samuel 24:24) “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.”
Is not the opposite of David’s attitude true in so many of us today? We do not want our service to God to cost us anything. If we were in David’s position, I wonder how many of us would say, “Boy, did the Lord bless, I did not have to pay anything for the oxen for the sacrifice, I did not have to pay for the instruments, or the threshing floor! God is so good!” We do not want our service to cost us anything! We want the path of least resistance. Many today find it to much to attend church faithfully, and yet that is nothing more than a baby step. We want to be counted as servants of God, but not at any cost, or very little cost. After all, we need to be culturally relevant.
Too often when the Lord begins to change our life, we put the brakes on. We decide this is costing us too much. We fail to see how much it cost God to purchase us! How selfish we are today. If you do not want your service to cost you anything, there are many churches out there where you will fit right in. They cater to every need you have. They are “seeker friendly.” For them is not about God, it is about you. However, as I study the churches of the New Testament, I have failed to find a “seeker friendly” church. I see churches which heeded the teaching of Jesus concerning the high cost of discipleship, (Matthew 16:24, Luke 14:26, 27). A life where Christ is preeminent and not you! (Phil 3:1-8) Oh, how we need to get over ourselves and focus on God. Life is not about us it is about God!
