Devotion:
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Read 1 Chronicles 21:18-24.
In our scripture lesson for today, King David is commanded by the Angel of the Lord to secure the threshing floor owned by Ornan the Jebusite in order to build an altar to the Lord. This site would form the basis for the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. When Ornan saw that the person approaching him was David, the king of Israel, he bowed down before him and offered to give him the property for whatever purpose he wanted at no charge. Ornan even offered to provide the oxen for the sacrifice at no cost to his king. While Ornan’s offer was well intentioned, David was having none of it. He said, “No, I will buy them from you at a fair price. I won’t offer to the Lord what belongs to you nor offer an entirely burned offering that costs me nothing. Then David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site. (v. 24-25, CEB).
David had sinned and was sorry for that sin and the judgment that it was bringing upon the people of Israel. When he obeyed the messenger of the Lord and approached Ornan to purchase his property, he insisted that Ornan not give the property to David, but to accept David’s offer to purchase the property for the future temple. In the same way that securing this property came at a cost to David, so our submitting to the will of God will come at a cost. German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that “cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
Personal Worship Option:
Take time to think about the sacrifice that you make in order to live into God’s will for you. What does it mean to submit your will in favor of God’s will?
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