Today’s Devotion
Topic: SACRIFICE: How Much Is Good Enough?
(Self Assessment)
INTRODUCTION: To sacrifice is to give up something valued for a better course. Normally, it may be recommended but not mandatory; leaving the individual to decide how much he/she is willing to either lay aside or offer as a token of their commitment to the course they are sacrificing for. The question however is, do we just give anything for giving sakes, especially when we are to give to God? Is there a measure to how much we should give? For answers to these questions and more, let’s zoom straight into our weekly Bible study.
Background: One day Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.” But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”
The king’s word, however, overruled Joab’s; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He punished Israel. (1 Chron 21:1- 4, 7).
David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd, have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? LORD my God, let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.” Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad (David’s Seer) to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.(1 Chron 21: 17-18)
Text: 1 Chron 21: 19- 27
19 So David went up in obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the LORD. 20 While Araunah was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves.
21 Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground. 22 David said to him, “Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price.”
23 Araunah said to David, “Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this.” 24 But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”
25 So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site. 26 David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then the LORD spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. Amen
Questions:
1) Is God interested in why we give and also how we give what we decide to give? Why is that so? (read Mark 12: 41-44)
2) What about how much we give? In Mark 12: 41-44, we see Jesus commending a widow who gave a mite as having given more than all who had given to the treasury that day. Yet in 2 Chronicles 7: 1- 5, we see God accepting a huge sacrifice from the people of Israel led by King Solomon. So how much is enough to be offered as “sacrifice” when it comes to God; unless quantity does not matter to Him. If it doesn’t, what does?
3) Is it possible for God to reject an offering? What will be some of the reasons that will make that happen? (Gen 4: 3- 5; Lev 10: 1 – 3)
4) What kind of offering will be pleasing to God then? (2 Cor 9: 7; Psalm 51: 17; Psalm 141: 2; Heb 13: 15- 16)
5) From the text above, David refused Araunah ‘s offer and insisted on paying the full price for the threshing floor. He wouldn’t sacrifice for God what costs Him nothing. What therefore must be the cost of what we offer to God and why?
6) How much did God (Himself) give to prove His commitment to us in giving something of worth? (John 3: 16; Isaiah 53: 7; Phil 2:8).
7) The angel of the Lord ordered David to Araunah’s threshing floor and there he was ready to offer his land to the king for free. Could it have been God’s way of testing David’s true repentance and commitment to the sacrifice? What can we learn from this as children of God?
8) What kind of person can we say Araunah was to be able to offer everything to David for free, and what kind of King was David to insist on paying the full price before sacrificing to God? Are there many Araunah’s & David’s around these days? If not, why do you think that is so? (Mat 6: 24; 1 Tim 6: 9- 10; Luke 12: 15; Mat 6: 31-33; Prov 13: 11).
9) What have you learnt from today’s Bible study?
Kindly reply through this same social media platform (Facebook & WhatsApp). We learn a great deal from the answers you share with us.
Let’s lift a sacrifice of praise to Jesus! Click: https://youtu.be/rUIMkRDdNqk
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