2 Samuel 24:24 (NIV): “But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.”
King David was offered land for free, if it were many of us, we would have shouted “Halleluiah.” But David being a man at the Heart of God realized that there are no free things in the Kingdom. Its either you pay or someone pays. He had a different mindset.
He chose to pay. He knew it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
If he had gone ahead and made the sacrifice at such a free land, then Araunah the giver would have been blessed. David would have been a loser. What a mindset.
He didn’t look at receiving free thing as being blessed, like what many would think. He had to pay a lot of money for the sacrifice to be done.
As Christians we need to stop looking at things of God as free. Sometimes we ululate or clap hands when we have heard that such and such has donated things to church or when we hear that a brother or sister is making full payment towards a project or an event.
Many look at the giver as someone who has lifted their burdens of giving. But giving is not a burden. There is noone who has ever become poorer or disadvantaged because of giving to God. We need to change our mindset and start taking part in giving towards the work of God instead of leaving it to few people in the body of Christ.
The more you leave it for few people, the more such people get blessed. You need to be involved in the activities of the body of Christ by giving your resources.
There are no free things in the Kingdom, its either you pay or somebody pays for them. God has entrusted you with something and that is why you are found at that place. It doesn’t matter, whether little or much, ensure you give something in the kingdom.
Because of David’s mentality towards God, he died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth, and honor (1 Chr 29:28).
This is one of His greatest secrets that earned him such a success which David himself reveals to us:
1 Chronicles 19:1-5 “With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.
Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?”
Prayer
Father thank you for entrusting me to be a partaker of your Kingdom work. Through my giving I participate in your Kingdom advancement and my life is transformed from glory to glory. In Jesus name.
