2 Samuel 24:24-25 – Costly Service
If we’re to do the opposite of offering to God things that cost us nothing, what might that look like? For David in 2nd Samuel 24, it’s a financial cost. He buys the threshing floor and oxen for 50 pieces of silver. And he doesn’t see that as something to be avoided at all cost. The very idea behind our English word ‘worship’ is an acknowledgement of someone’s worth. And we show by our costly service of God how much we think he is actually worth. God doesn’t need our money. Which is actually his money anyway. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts’. Haggai 2:8 The Apostle Paul reminds us: ‘God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything’. But rather our financial giving – or lack of it – is one of the things that shows how we view God. As Paul puts it in 2nd Corinthians 8, it’s one of the evidences that our love is genuine. He’s speaking there of the churches of Macedonia, who he says gave according to their means, and beyond their means. But God is concerned not just that we give, but about the heart behind it. ‘God loves a cheerful giver’! The Bible condemns the heart that looks on costly service to God as a waste. When Jesus’ own disciples saw a woman anoint him with very expensive ointment they said: ‘Why this waste?’ But Jesus said: ‘Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me’. The New Testament emphasis isn’t on giving a particular percentage. Though I think we have reason to believe that the 10% figure that we see as early as Genesis 14 still hold true, at least as a minimum. But the New Testament emphasis is on joyful, sacrificial giving, not reluctantly.
There are other ways our service of God may be a financial cost to us, other than simply giving. There’s God’s command that we wouldn’t do any unnecessary work on the Lord’s Day. And the financial cost that could involve in terms of turning down work. Living as a Christian when the rest of your family aren’t Christians will cost you in little and big ways. Having a daily time with God, reading your Bible and praying to him will cost you time, it might cost you sleep. Standing up for the Bible’s teaching on morality will cost you. You may suffer in work if you refuse to lie to help someone out. There are many ways our service to God may be costly. But the true believer doesn’t look on it as loss.
Question
- What are some ways our service to God can cost?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that service to Christ is never a waste.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.