The Cost of Faithfulness

​1 Chronicles 21:24 ~ "But King David said to Ornan, 'No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.'"

How do you count the cost of faithfulness to the LORD? 

Incited by the enemy of God, David sent Joab to survey the nation of Israel and count the people (see 1 Chronicles 21:1-2). The intent of such a survey would more than probably be to underscore the strength of the nation, noting how many fighting men there were in both the northern and southern portions of the kingdom. This, however, angered the LORD for it looked to the strength of men rather than the power of God to secure the land.

David, in repentance, cried out to the LORD and was given the opportunity to worship God at the threshing floor where the destroying angel was commanded to halt the judgment of the LORD. And I want to highlight this truth: we have opportunity to worship the LORD at His willingness not at ours. If God will not receive your service, if He rejects your worship, then, beloved, you are out of fellowship with Him and must repent of any known sins and seek the mercy of the LORD. Consider what the LORD said in Malachi 1:10, "Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand." So, you might ask--what is acceptable? David tells us in Psalm 51:17, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." It is humility that God receives, a heart that is broken and contrite before Him. Arrogance and pride must be cast off as we come to offer our sacrifices to the LORD.

So, in our text today, David had humbled himself before God (see 1 Chronicles 21:17). And now the king of Israel is commanded to come before the LORD and offer to God a sacrifice of worship, an burnt offering and a peace offering. But Ornan wanted to give to David all that which was required to make the acceptable sacrifice--and David refused on two grounds.

First, David said, "I will not take for the LORD what is yours." David was no robber-king, and he would not take from another and present it as if it were his. As king of Israel, it may seem as if David would have the authority to take it--and it was freely offered. But to offer such a sacrifice before the LORD would, in truth, be an offering of Ornan's and not David's.

Second, and this is to our main view today, David would offer no sacrifice before the LORD that cost him nothing. What a tremendous truth this is! There is a cost to our faithfulness to the LORD. David knew this, for he wanted to make sure he paid full price for all the required necessities of the offering. In truth, a sacrifice that comes without a cost is not really a sacrifice at all. If I wanted to give to you a gift, but then go and get that gift for free, given to me by another, and then pass it off to you, the value of such a gift is emptied--for it cost me nothing.

Do you have this mindset? Are you of the frame of thinking that you will only give to God what is convenient without a cost? Let us all embrace the wonderful opportunity to give to God what He deserves: our very lives. Jesus told us to "count the cost" in Luke 14:28, "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?" But, be of good cheer my friends, God will not impose on you a demand beyond your ability. 2 Corinthians 8:12 states, "For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have." 

It is often, however, not our abilities that hinder us but our unwillingness that gets in our way. So let me encourage you, beloved, to consider this text and remember what David the king said. There is a cost to faithfulness--let your willingness cause you to rise up and offer to God what He requires.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

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