Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Then David said to Ornan, “Sell me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to Yahweh on it. You shall sell it to me for the full price, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.” Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes. Behold, I give the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal offering. I give it all.” King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will most certainly buy it for the full price. For I will not take that which is yours for Yahweh, nor offer a burnt offering that costs me nothing.” So David gave to Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. David built an altar to Yahweh there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on Yahweh; and he answered him from the sky by fire on the altar of burnt offering.”
(1 Chronicles 21:22-26)

“When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” He hurried, came down, and received him joyfully. When they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.” Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.”
(Luke 19:5-9)

David understood the principle that a sacrifice inherently has a cost. It isn’t a sacrifice if it doesn’t cost you anything. Having over a hundred grand in available money and giving away twenty dollars has cost you nothing. You might not even know it was gone. That’s how LITTLE it cost you. I’m not saying give until it hurts, but I AM saying that sacrifices should be a sacrifice. David could afford the threshing floor. He was a very rich and influential man. But he wouldn’t take it for free. He NEEDED it to cost him something in order to give it VALUE. David didn’t want to offer to God someone else’s sacrifice. He wanted to give God something that cost him something. He wanted to give of HIS resources. It is an important part of sacrifice: willingly giving something that is yours to keep.

Zacchaeus knew the Law. If you stole something and voluntarily returned it, you paid the victim the amount you stole plus 20%. If you were caught stealing (not voluntary), you had to pay the victim double (Exodus 22:3-6). Zacchaeus is choosing to voluntarily give back anything he stole plus FOUR TIMES that amount. Zacchaeus is so committed to making things right, that he is willing to sacrifice a huge chunk of his own personal wealth in order to make sure the victims of his greed are restored to their positions plus blessed upon blessed. That shows his complete change of heart. He is willing to let his repentance cost him something because he has realized what is truly important: his heart’s relationship with God.

Summary

Actions speak louder than words. What is in our hearts comes out. It is a sign of our trust in Jesus that we are willing to sacrifice. We KNOW that we will be rewarded. It doesn’t have to be here on Earth. It can be in heaven. It can be a reward along the same lines as our sacrifice (money given and getting money back), it can be a spiritual return (reward in heaven), it can be a relational return, it can be anything. The RETURN is not the important thing. The willingness to give IS. Our hearts should be giving hearts. Out of love for God. We love Him so much and recognize what He was willing to give up for us, so we are willing to give up for Him. It can be anything He wants us to give. We are to be blessers – this is why we get blessed. When God is our Source, we aren’t hanging onto ANYTHING, because we know God will meet ALL our needs. Our hearts should be seeing God first and everything else second. We’re willing to sacrifice and give, because He is the important thing in our life.