How cheap can devotion be?
Soul Snack 9/95 ... A Threshing Floor Lesson
'Our father in heaven is whole hearted about those whole hearted for Him.'
Does this sound like a truism? Is this an axiom of eternal life.?
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. 2 Sam 24:24
Under a curse and under a plague, King David is responding to God's directive to build an altar to sacrifice (vs 18-20) . Under God's directions David now will not compromise. He refuses to adopt cheap ways from Araunah's generous heart.
David sees something much higher here in his devotion to God. He knows that sacrifice costs. Sacrifice that doesn't cost is merely an activity.
There is no sacrifice when there is no cost!
There is no devotion when there is no cost!
Simply put - devotion is the willing desire to personally give to another.
There can be no cheap devotion, for then it is not!