Happy 2009! I'm starting today with a story about David, but I'll get to Daniel next.
This is a bizarre little chapter. First of all, it starts with King David asking his commander Joab to count all of the fighting men in his kingdom. Joab is repulsed. He knows that God is always the deciding factor in a victory, not the number of men. To him it was an obvious and serious sin. Seeking definite knowledge of the exact size of your power, your limits, your worth. Needing a tangible defininition of your value.
Man, we do this every day in all kinds of ways. We seek to know our exact limits: my bank balance, my credit limit, my square footage, my 401K balance, my Facebook friends, my salary, my (insert your number here). Exactly how insulated have I made myself from simply trusting that I am reliant on an unlimited God?
But then, God sends Gad with news of a multiple choice punishment for the sin. To me, this is just zany. Seriously, stop and read it now. I can't make it any weirder than it already reads. "David, choose punishment A, B, or C for what you did." David wisely asks God to choose for him. God picked C: a plague.
David goes to build an altar to make sacrifices to end the plague. A man named Araunah generously offers to give David the land, the materials, and the animals to sacrifice. But David says something that really seems to apply to me starting this 21-day fast. "No way. I won't make a sacrifice to the Lord that costs me nothing."
Today, I will build an altar and lay a sacrifice on it that I hope honors God. It will cost me my convenience, my comfort, and take some serious willpower and commitment. I'm glad I have my friends to worship God with me by fasting.
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4 comments:
An awsome thought...that this is an altar. How many times do we through worship or maybe a time alone with God... we weep and cry out that we give our all to Him. Yet little by little we allow so many other things to smother Him out. It is a blessing to see so many make this commitment. I look forward to hearing and sharing testimonies of His grace in all this. Happy New Year!
Amen and amen!
God's sacrifice cost Him something he loved and it was his Son. He is worthy of all sacrifice...
The intention of making it something more than just a "check box" is inspiring. I believe it will only make me more like Christ if I'm impacted by the commitment.
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