True love pays a price

2 Samuel 24:18-25

And Gad came that day to David and said to him, "Go up, raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." So David went up at Gad's word, as the LORD commanded. And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. And Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be averted from the people." Then Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the LORD your God accept you." But the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.

To get the full picture of this story about King David and the Israelites it's a good idea to go read the whole of chapter 24. I will summarize it quick for you though. The Lord was frustrated with his people and so incited David against them, and he [David] took a census. Without getting deep into how taking a census was sinful, it seems to me that pride is the ultimate concern here, as it usually is. As soon as Joab returns and gives King David some numbers, the king realizes what he has done and seeks forgiveness. Ultimately he is to offer a sacrifice in this particular location, on the threading floor of Araunah. This the king does and the punishment ceases.

What caught my attention in this passage was verse 24.

But the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

There are those that would argue that if God was a loving God he wouldn't punish those he calls his children, referring to the banishment of the unbeliever being sentence to hell. Some will even take the argument all the way, and suggest that eventually God will grant all his created people access to heaven with him eternally. Here is the problem with this determination, it only encompasses a single characteristic of God: God is love. The facts are that God has many characteristics and another of those is: God is just. You can not separate these two characteristics. So then how do we reconcile these things? Our selected verse gives us an answer. David stated that he would not offer a sacrifice that "cost me nothing". Therefore he paid a price in order to make the necessary sacrifice. God has done the same thing to make it possible for us to join him for eternity. Let me explain it in a couple of short steps...

1) we are all sinners, we simply don't meet the standard of holiness set by God.

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)

2) make no doubt about it, there is a pending judgement coming and a way out of that judgement.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

3) that to be released from that judgement is a free gift from God - but it cost him dearly.

"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

John shared very clearly what that price was, God's son Jesus Christ.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."(John 3:16)

4) your part in this process is to receive the gift and say thank you. Be sure this is no light matter, God himself paid the price of punishment for you.

"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

If this is news to you, and you have decided to accept that gift it is important that you tell someone ("if you confess with your mouth"). Sharing this decision begins to solidify it's effects on your life, because the freedom from judgement begins now in freeing you from the effects and draw of sin. Contact a local Christian church, a Christian friend, or myself. You can get post a message to this blog, or email me at corlan94@gmail.com.

An unbelievable truth about worship

Joshua 7:1-26
But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel. Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." And the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few." So about 3,000 men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai, and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water.

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?"

The LORD said to Joshua, "Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up! Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the LORD, God of Israel, "There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you." In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the LORD takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the LORD takes shall come near by households. And the household that the LORD takes shall come near man by man. And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel.'"

So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me." And Achan answered Joshua, "Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath."

So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the LORD. And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, "Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today." And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.
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I always thought it was difficult to pull out a lesson from the Old Testament stories, but I've found them to be equally inspired and useful for teaching! This passage is one such example. I first read it and taught in it in February, and thought I'd share my observations here.

First of all, we see right at the beginning that a sin was committed, look at how this passage opens up. "But the people of Israel broke faith...". As we continue to read we find out that it in fact it was Achan who sinned, yet the statement is that Israel broke faith. Lesson 1 - the sin of one can affect the whole community.

The next observation is Joshua's reaction to the battle loss. He tears his clothes and cries out to God, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan!..." Doesn't that sound a little, or maybe a lot, like the Israelites whining to Moses when they left Egypt. It is amazing that even one who gets to be in the presence of God and experience his miracles first hand can lose hope so quickly. While Joshua panics quickly, God is just a fast to point out the failure was due to sin. We then watch as there is a long drawn out process to identify the individual responsible for the sin, and the failure of the entire community. Lesson 2 - the Holy Spirit knows the sin in our lives, and can expose it when necessary.

The most fabulous observation is in Joshua's words to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me." Do you see it...give glory and praise to the LORD - tell me what you've done. This is spectacular! The confession of sin is worship. That is what glory and praise are. What do we usually think of when we speak of worship? Music, hymns, choruses, reading scripture, raised hands...but never confession of sin. We are taught here, that if we come clean with God he is pleased, and accepts it to be worship. Wow, what freedom there is in that!!

Take some time to think on that truth... allow the Holy Spirit to show you the sin in your life, and offer up your confession as worship to God the Father! Through His son Jesus Christ he want to forgive you and give your freedom!