Love Costs Everything

1 Chronicles 20

22 David said to Araunah, “Let me buy this threshing floor from you at its full price. Then I will build an altar to the Lord there, so that he will stop the plague.”

23 “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, and the threshing boards for wood to build a fire on the altar, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all to you.”

24 But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!” 25 So David gave Araunah 600 pieces of gold in payment for the threshing floor.

One of the themes at this summer’s MOVE Conference is that “Love Costs Everything.” It is designed to get students thinking about what their commitment to Jesus costs them. If it hasn’t cost anything at all, then the likelihood is that there is not much of a commitment on their part. David understood that principle. He had sinned against the LORD by ordering a census. God had brought an angel of destruction against the people, and David cried out to God. The angle of destruction was stopped at the threshing floor of Arauanah. That’s where this passage picks up. Bottom line: David could not offer sacrifices (worship) that had cost him nothing. What has worshipping/following Jesus cost you? It is time to count the cost and measure the depth of your love for the One Who loves you best.