1 Chronicles 21 is a great chapter of scripture where we see King David make another stupid decision followed by a very smart one. In this chapter he decides to count all of the fighting men in Israel. To do this, scripture says, was a sin. David's own advisors tell him that this not a good plan but he proceeds with it anyway. Just so we are all on the same page, the reason that this was grievous was because it was an arrogant move on David's part. The only reason for numbering the men was to pat David on the back and show the rest of the nations how mighty they were in military strength by human standards. So in doing this he was essentially saying that the might of Israel lay in its numbers and not in the Lord.

So the census takes place and as a result God sends Gad, one of David's seers, to rebuke him and tells David that he has three choices for his punishment. One, he could have three years of famine; two, he could have three months of being swept away by the sword of his enemies; three, he could choose to have three days of the sword of the Lord or essentially three days of plague in all of Israel.

What a choice! Think for a moment what would you choose? It's not like there is one that is a little bit easier than the others. But David chooses the third option stating that he would rather be at the mercy of the Lord than at the mercy of men. So God sends his angel to bring about this terrible plague that ultimately takes the life of 70,000 men, all because he took a census. This is pretty dramatic, but as the angel of the Lord was about to destroy Jerusalem, God had mercy on his people and the angel told Gad to tell David to build an alter on the spot where the angel was standing, which happened to be on a guy named Araunah the Jebusite's threshing floor. In obedience, David went up to the threshing floor of Araunah to build an alter in order to offer sacrifices on it and end the plague.

When he approached, David said to Araunah the following: "Sell me at full price your threshing floor so that I might offer a sacrifice to the Lord and end this plague." Araunah offers to just give him the site of his threshing floor, but he doesn't stop there--he also offers to give David the oxen, the wood from the floor and the wheat for all of the required parts of the sacrifice, and mind you, he is offering to give it all freely without charge.

This is the climax of the story and the point that I want you to take with you this week. David is king, and as such, he can take anything that he wants. He could have thanked Araunah, telling him that he is a faithful subject and that his generosity would not go unnoticed. He could have told him that it was because of his generosity that their people would be delivered from this plague. This sort of scenario would really not be too much of a stretch to imagine. Most people would have probably thought, "How great is this, not only are we going to end the plague but it isn't going to cost us anything."

I don't know about you, but I am always looking for a deal. I don't like to pay full price for anything and I like to get the most bang for my buck, so to speak. If I was David, I would have thought that this was working out better than expected and that it was going to be a win-win for everyone. But this is not David's response. David responds by saying in verse 24, "No, I insist on paying you the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing."

This is what it means to sacrifice. When we offer up our gifts and talents and money to the Lord is it really costing us anything or are we giving God the leftovers? Are we saying to ourselves, "Hey I have a little bit extra so I guess I will give some of it to God this week or this month." Do we look for the shortcut and the cheapest price that we can get away with paying or do we offer ourselves and everything that we have and are to the Lord with this same attitude of the one who was known as a man after God's own heart (David).

Final Thought: This week, ask yourself if your sacrifices, tithes, or offerings, whether they are of a monetary value or just simply your time spent with God in worship and devotions, are costing you anything. And if it isn't costing you anything, then is it really of any value to you?