At the full market price

1Chronicles21:24 David replied to Araunah, “No, I’m buying it from you, and at the full market price. I’m not going to offer God sacrifices that are no sacrifice.” (The Message)

David has taken a census, “substituting statistics for trust.” (21:8) In order to appease God’s anger, and make up for his wrongdoing, he is building an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. Araunah offers him the property gratis, along with the animals and grain needed for the sacrifice and David refuses. He wants this to cost him something.

Am I willing to pay the cost? Whenever I make a decision, for good or for ill, all of its ramifications may not be apparent at that time, but whatever they are, I need to deal with them and accept them. There may be unexpected costs, perhaps financial, certainly emotional, but they are part and parcel of the cost of living. Do I want to eliminate risk, somehow get a free pass because “it wasn’t my fault”, I had no way of knowing how things would turn out, or am I willing to pay the price whatever it is, because that is what I signed on for when the decision was made?

Whatever happens to us, we pay for with our lives, whether deserved or undeserved. Many innocent Israelites paid for David’s sin. Perhaps what this is saying to me today is bear the cost and don’t count it. Reckon it as the price of living, the price of loving, the price of engagement in the world, the price of redemption and serenity.

Prayer: Dear God, I try so hard sometimes to figure out all the angles, plan for all contingencies, and still end up with costs I didn’t anticipate. Teach me to accept all that comes my way as part of the gift of your grace, whatever the cost, that I may always be grateful for where you have brought me. Amen