Do You Present Free Offerings?

2 Samuel 24:18-25

18 That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

19 So David went up to do what the Lord had commanded him. 20 When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21 “Why have you come, my lord the king?” Araunah asked. David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so that he will stop the plague.”

22 “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. 23 I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice.”

24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.

25 David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

What struck me most in this story was the heart of King David. I can see why he was such a good king. He had recently sinned against the Lord by taking a census of his people, which cost the people to do it. David was not acting on the direction of the Lord and did this to punish the people. This is not the way God wanted him to deal with them. In the verses leading up to these the Lord had given David a choice of three punishments.

13 “Will you choose three years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”

David chose three days of severe plague. After 70,000 people died David pled with the Lord to stop and He did. David saw the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and then the Lord directed David to build an altar there. When David went to buy the threshing floor the owner wanted to give it to him, but David would not have it. His comment in verse 24 is very telling of just why David was a great king. "I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing." That is awesome teaching for today. I wonder how often people present their offerings to the Lord that don't cost them anything.

When I was growing up my parents were not tithers, that I was aware of. They would give $5.00 per week into the offering and $25.00 on holidays. I know my parents made more than $3,000.00 per year so it didn't take long to know that they were not tithing. I would say that an offering like that is one that cost them nothing. This is why the Lord requires the tithe. A person who offers 10% of the income to the Lord is sacrificing. It shows Who is in control and who is not. It shows an acknowledgment that everything comes from God and my tithe is to be used for His Kingdom work on earth. God doesn't need my money He wants my heart. The Word says this in Matthew:

Matthew 6:21

"Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."

If my treasures (money) is not subject to the Lord to be used as He sees fit then it will be consumed by me and used for nothing of lasting value or worth. Everything on earth is subject to decay, theft and swindle. Why would I want to invest in that? I believe in investing heavily into the Kingdom and for His glory. I thank King David for setting an example that I can follow when it comes to my offerings to the Lord. May it never be said that my offerings cost me nothing.