2 Samuel 24:24-25
24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.
So the story begins with a plague and David wanted it gone. He traveled to a man’s home, Araunah, and wanted to find some good land for an altar and good animals for a sacrifice (thank God for Jesus changing things up for us there!)
When he got there, the man was more than willing to give what he had to the cause and offer it up as an offering to the king and to the Lord.
What happened next was a vital insight to worship. David, a man who could have anything, wasn’t willing to just take something that cost him nothing and offer it up to the Lord. He was willing to pay a price.
I talked to my worship team about this and it stuck with me this week for my blog. I am challenged (as I hope you are) to have a worship life that costs something.
What I mean is… are you “paying the price”? Do you have some alone time with God even when it might not be convenient? Do you take time out in your week to spend some time just worshiping God? Oh.. you don’t have to be a musician or a good singer to do that… those things don’t impress God.. what He really wants is your heart.
I want to encourage you to dig in a little deeper. Don’t just be a worship consumer, meaning don’t just go to church and let the band or worship team or piano player or whatever your worship experience looks like.. carry your load…. riding on their investment.. come having paid the price and when you do come together corporately, the experience will be something of even greater value. To know you are not willing to give God something that cost you nothing, but to know you considered the cost makes it all the more precious!!
So my friends… is your worship worth the cost? The way you spend alone time with the Father, the way to sing to Him, the way you talk with Him, the way you live for Him? I hope you live it from a different perspective starting now… oh… And remember…. #GodsGotThis