sacrifice

I was thinking about sacrifice a couple of months ago. I wrote the word on a post-it note to think about when I had a bit more time, meaning to get back to it within the week. Well...I just found the post-it, stuffed in a crevice of my wallet along with a couple of business cards and an old bus ticket. Oh, procrastination.

On to the future, though: it's 2010! And I'm thinking about sacrifice now. In 2 Samuel 24:24, David is trying to save his people from the deadly plague that God sent on the Israelites after David sinned. The prophet Gad tells him to build an altar on the threshing floor of a man named Araunah. David goes to the man and offers to buy his threshing floor. Araunah resists, telling the king that he can take whatever he wants without paying. At this point, David says something incredible. He says, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

These words often echo in my head. I've lived in America for almost 8 months now, and the rhetoric of shallow sacrifice is everywhere. Want the soda without the sugar and calories? Buy diet! Want the new TV right now? Buy it on credit! Want a perfect country with a good economy? Elect the right politician! We don't want to eat less, spend less, or make wiser – and more sacrificial – decisions.

It's not just the world, though. I see it in the church, too, and that hurts. I see it in myself, and that's even worse. I want closeness with God without investing much time in his Word. I want the church to reach out and touch the community, but I'm too often not willing to give my own time and money.

Like David, I want God to work through me to cleanse a plague – the plague of sin. Unlike David, however, I leap at the chance to build the altar on cheap ground. My sacrifices too often cost me nothing when they should cost everything.

God, help me give sacrificially, the way you bought my salvation. Teach me to delight in serving you and others. Make me a living sacrifice.