Full Price Please ♡♡♡

 

"But King David replied to Araunah, No I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!" - 1 1 Chronicles 21:24

Permit me to be a little vulnerable with you this week :) I'd come to realize in my walk with the Lord, that sometimes my personality, unique expressions, extroverted nature can disguise who and what I am really all about. I have had quite a few instances in my life, where it comes across as though people gravitate towards me for the wrong reasons, only to experience a rude awakening that there is more to who I am, my values and the things that matter to me. The problem with this sometimes, is that at the initial stage, I can invest so much time and effort trying to build a friendship or relationship; only for me to experience some kind of rejection afterwards, when we start to clash in matters relating to spiritual things. Sometimes, it's not even in what is being said, but what is mostly not being said - the pulling away stings. Ya, it's shocking - my mindset is different :) As you know, we are all about perspective and "mindsetting" on this platform, so allow me encourage your heart this week about the willingness and readiness to give God everything :)

"Or Suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish - Luke 14:28-30

David was a man after God's heart. He wasn't called that because he was sinless. He was called that inspite of all of his shortcomings. I believe he was called that, because he carried God in his "consciousness" and even at those times when he had lost sight, he was quick to repent when he was called out. David had called a census, which was against the will of God. God decided to discipline him for it [won't go into all of the details, please read Chronicles 21]. It was after that episode that God had asked him to build an altar before the Lord, so that the plague on the people may be stopped. David was to purchase a threshing floor for this purpose. And although it had been offered to him free, along with so many other items for burnt offering, David insists on paying the full price. "I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that cost me nothing" - 1 Chronicles 21:24b. What a man, what a heart. It had to cost him something. Not even after he had just been disciplined. David put his money where his mouth is, and so should we.

I don't know what your own "cost" looks like, but we must be willing to let go of anything at any time for the sake of Christ. We must be willing to put in our own sacrifices, time, effort to honor God. Even if it means losing people too, so be it. Naturally our walk with the Lord is a sweet fragrance to some, but a smell of doom for others even when we are not necessarily judging anyone. Our lives excite some and others it annoys. We can be willing just like David to give our very best even in the most unpredicting times. David had just been disciplined, yet he gave his ALL. You too can give God your best, whatever the cost. Whatever that looks like for you.

There is the temptation to down play who we are to be accepted into a mold, but it's a trap. At best you'll be a "copy" version and deep down nobody really wants to be that. So why don't you go the whole nine yards and let God worry about the "adds" and the "subtractions". The truth is, God is not a robber. If we open our hands to let up everything, he always find a way somehow to exchange it with the "bests" of everything. So whilst we may lose temporarily, momentarily; we are gaining so much more eternally. It's a constant lesson in my life, that though it may sting, I'll be willing to let go and trust God no matter what it is I have to put down in any season of my life. Man like David, be like David :)

"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it" Matthew 16:25

                                                               "Put your head up Soldier"

Love

SR