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^[a] of silver. (1 Samuel 24:24 ESV)

How often do we give of our time, talent and treasure that which cost us nothing?

Really consider this a moment. It can become easy, almost mundane, to give from our abundance or our convenience. What we give up to God really costing us nothing and takes nothing from us. This is a dangerous habit to fall into and one that we succumb to quite easily.

Araunah was prepared to give his king everything David needed to sacrifice to the Lord so that a pestilence would be abated. However, David knew that giving something that cost him nothing would not be satisfactory. He knew that God would not honor a sacrifice that sacrificed nothing from David.

Too often, we either give out of habit or we give to get prayers answered in return. We need to search our motives for giving. God loves a cheerful giver, meaning that He wants us to look upon what we give, be it time, effort or money, with gladness and a desire for the furthering of the Kingdom. He looks for us to give sacrificially as well and not just out of our abundance, not just our tithe, but from that which cost us something.