The Spirit of Giving
“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'” (2 Samuel 24:24 NIV).
My pastor preached on this verse a few weeks ago. The story goes like this:
King David, the man after God’s own heart, made a big mistake. God had reassured David that Israel did not need to assemble an army because He would protect her from all her enemies. However, David got a little anxious. Against sound advice and his own better judgment, David gave a command to have his people numbered (just in case he might need an army later on).
David’s sin made God very angry. In repentance of his sin, David visited the home of Araunah, a citizen of Israel, to build an altar to the Lord. Araunah found himself overwhelmed and humbled in the presence of King David, and offered his threshing floor as a gift. He also offered his oxen for the offering and the wood from his threshing sledges and oxen yokes. King David refused Araunah’s offers, saying, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David purchased the threshing floor and the oxen for a price and made his offer to the Lord.
There are several principles we can take away from this story, but what sticks out to me is the part about not offering something that costs me nothing.
A few weeks ago, my seven-year-old daughter attended her first real birthday party. I needed to buy a gift to send along with her. I bought a DigiBird, a fake bird that can perch on your finger and bob its head and whistle back to you. It met my requirements: it was cheap, but it didn’t look cheap. It was a nice enough gift, and it only cost me ten dollars. The birthday girl would like it, and her parents wouldn’t think less of me.
My pastor’s sermon came to mind. When I give to my Lord, am I guilty of being a cheapskate?
Am I offering to my God something that costs me nothing? Am I choosing to give to the Lord only that which is convenient and easy for me? Volunteering for the nursery is great… but am I only doing it because a) I’m going to be at church already and b) it’s an easy way to scratch “serve God this week” off my checklist? Am I doing just enough to assuage my conscience and qualify for a participation award?
A few things came to mind as I considered this topic.
A gift is meant to cost me something.
Love always costs. My sacrifice should cost me something. If I bring two mites before the Lord and those mites were all I had, I have pleased Him. If I bring two million mites before the Lord but it was no skin off my back, I’ve missed the point. If I give of my surplus, can I call it a sacrifice?
My gifts change as my life changes.
At this stage in my life, my best sacrifice is made within the four walls of my home. During my college years, I volunteered at nursing homes and homeless shelters. I have been a Sunday School teacher and I have done construction projects. Today, as a wife and a mother of young children, the sacrifices I make for the Lord look dramatically different.
Gifts vary in cost depending on the situation.
Some days the most lavish gift I can give to God is to hold my tongue. Maybe yesterday that wasn’t much of a sacrifice, but today it costs me an arm and a leg. On a bad day, maybe your best sacrifice is to get out of bed, take a shower, and just be present. Gifts to God don’t follow a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price list. An extroverted person might not think of being a VBS volunteer as being a big sacrifice; for an introvert, it might cost them all they have. What may cost almost nothing to you might be extremely expensive for another.
My gifts also bless me, the giver.
When we give to the Lord, He blesses us generously. In Malachi 3:10, God invites His people to give sacrificially, and then says “Test me in this […] and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it” (NIV).
Jesus himself tells us, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38 ESV). Our gifts of service to God are guaranteed to render return on investment.
We can never out-gift God. Compared to Calvary, anything we give is an infinitesimal fraction of what we have received. Nevertheless, my goal is to offer daily sacrifices, seemingly big or small, that come to me at a cost and are presented joyfully – because He so earnestly deserves my all.
lives in Michigan with her husband and four (soon to be five!) children. She is a lover of music, language, and all things thought-provoking. She is a witness and testimony to God’s redemptive grace.
Photograph © Jess Watters, used with permission
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