Devotional
The Cost of Commitment
“Neither will I offer… unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.” 2 Samuel 24:24
David loved the Lord and desired fellowship with Him, he often sinned, and God would chastise him to incite repentance and restore communion. David’s numbering of the people and God’s pestilence upon Israel illustrate this frequent process. David was an old man when this happened, but he responded quickly and properly. Too many times God’s people are either insensitive to the Lord’s chastening or mistaken about God’s intention. No matter how many times we fail the Lord, we should, like David, be swift to repent and dedicate ourselves anew to God.
After David confessed his sin, the prophet instructed him to build an altar in the threshing floor of Araunah. David’s offering on this altar would be a public declaration of his repentance and testimony of his desire to go on with God. When the king approached Araunah, the Jebusite freely offered everything necessary to erect the altar and make the sacrifice. But David declared that a sacrifice that did not cost him was no sacrifice at all. He knew that God was not just looking at the act of service; he knew that God was looking at the motive of his heart.
Following Christ is simple, but it is not easy. There is a cost to total dedication. Christ made this clear when He required His followers to forsake all. Bunyan described the arduous journey to heaven along the narrow way. The Apostle Paul testified that he had suffered the loss of all things. Almost a thousand years earlier, Abraham was ready to offer his own son. Abraham knew the cost of discipleship that could require even the hating of children for the sake of Christ. Although not easy, the way of dedication to Christ is a pleasurable way that rewards us daily with fellowship with our Saviour.
Quote: “I will place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of Christ.” – David Livingstone
Devotional taken from “Footprints of Faith.” Copyright Let the Bible Speak 1989.
