Fear No Fear

“Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price; I don’t want to offer to Yahweh my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the cattle for fifty shekels of silver” (2 Samuel 24:24). In the Law the burnt offerings were to be unblemished and of the first of the flock and the best pieces were to be given to God. Grain offerings were to be of FINE flour. Fine flour is a pain to grind. It takes effort. Quite a bit of it. Offerings were to be a sacrifice. They weren’t easy to come by. They often represented substantial financial investment. They always represented HOURS of labour and effort. They cost something. Is it an offering if you’re regifting something you got? Something you didn’t buy. Something you didn’t work for. It is important to give God something we have from our own efforts. Why? Mostly because we hoard those things that cost us. It is OURS from OUR SWEAT we DESERVE it. If we give of that – and the BEST of that – we’re saying ‘here is the absolute best because you DESERVE the best’. We’re giving up OUR things. We’re letting go. We hang onto things because we put such meaning in our own efforts. God deserves our best. Not because He needs anything we have. But because it costs us something to give it up expecting nothing in return. In giving simply to give. God is amazing and wonderful and more than. Never give up an opportunity to make an offering to Him. Never give up the chance to sacrifice. He deserves it.