In 2 Samuel 24, David had sinned against God. He had taken a census of the people to determine their strength. He was not trusting in God, but in his own power. God sent a pestilence among the people as a punishment. When David repented, he wanted to make a sacrifice to God.
He went to buy a piece of land and some oxen in order to build an altar and give his sacrifice. The man who owned the field and the oxen wanted to give them to his king, but the Bible tells us this: “However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” So, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver,” (2 Sam. 24:24).
David refused to worship the Lord if it cost him nothing. God does not need our money. But true gratefulness for God’s forgiveness is shown in us becoming a living and holy sacrifice to God. Worship that costs us nothing is not a proper response to the gift of His Son.
The stewardship of our tithes and offerings are a response of gratefulness. It is a way we worship God for who He is and what He has done. If God does not need our money, why do we give? Let me give you three reasons that flow from the principle we are seeing in 2 Samuel 24.
- We are making an eternal investment. Randy Alcorn writes in his book, “The Treasure Principle,” “Financial planners tell us, ‘When it comes to your money, don’t think just three months or three years ahead. Think thirty years ahead.’ Christ, the ultimate investment counselor, takes it further. He says, ‘Don’t ask how your investment will be paying off in just thirty years.” Ask how it will be paying off in thirty million years.’”
- Our tithes and offerings are gifts of gratefulness. As we saw with David, our giving does not reflect anything about what we have, but it does reflect our heart. John MacArthur has said, “You can tell a great deal about a person’s heart by their giving.”
- Giving is obedience to the Spirit of God. We do not give because of duty, but because the Spirit of God has directed us to give, and so we freely give out of obedience. “For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord,”(2 Cor. 8:3).
We want to be a church devoted to stewardship. That includes giving of ourselves and our resources to the Lord’s work.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Pastor Mark
