Christian Commentary Encouraging Devotions

^{2 Sam. 24:20} When Araunah saw the king (David) and his men coming toward him, he came forward and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. ²¹"Why have you come, my lord?" Araunah asked.
And David replied, "I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the LORD there, so that the LORD will stop the plague."
²²"Take it, my lord, and use it as you wish," Araunah said to David. "Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing tools and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. ²³I will give it all to you, and may the LORD your God accept your sacrifice."
²⁴But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on buying it, for I cannot present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing." So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. (NLT)

"I cannot present burnt offerings to the Lord...that have cost me nothing."

^{Acts 3:4} Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, "Look at us!" ⁵The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting a gift. ⁶But Peter said, "I don't have any money for you. But I'll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!"

Did his healing cost the blind beggar anything?

^{Acts 3:12} Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. "People of Israel," he said, "what is so astounding about this? And why look at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power and godliness? ¹³For it is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of all our ancestors who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate's decision to release him. ¹⁴You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. ¹⁵You killed the author of life, but God raised him to life. And we are witnesses of this fact!
¹⁶"The name of Jesus has healed this man--and you know how lame he was before. Faith in Jesus' name has caused this healing before your very eyes. (NLT)

Yes, there was a cost involved here, not to the blind beggar. He received a free gift of healing. The cost was to Jesus who gave all to purchase not only our salvation, but also our healing.

^{Acts 3:19} Now turn from your sins and turn to God, so you can be cleansed of your sins. ²⁰Then wonderful times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will send Jesus your Messiah to you again. (NLT)

The cost of times of refreshing? Turning from our sins so that we may be cleansed.  There is a cost, a cost that pales when placed alongside His wonderful purchase price.

We have friends serving with SIM in Ghana. Is there a cost to them? Distance from children, grandchildren, and our western way of life. They've counted that cost and others and are willing to pay the price to do God's bidding in their lives.

David said he couldn't offer something that hadn't cost him something. What might the Lord be requiring of you?