1 Chronicles 21:23 “And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.”
We are more skeptical than we care to admit. There comes the point in every life that causes us to question or hesitate.
Our level of commitment has a limit.
It may be when the time involved infringes on our pleasure or rest.
It may be when the sacrifice is more significant than we had planned.
It may be the direction we are asked to travel opposes what we thought or wanted it to be.
Whatever the case, that limit revealed itself when we stopped.
This brings us to what Ornan said to David when asked if the king could use his threshing floor to build an altar. Ornan said:
“… I give it all.”
Ornan could have been possessive of his land enough to allow the king to have what he needed and no more. But Ornan did much more than that.
He gave King David a blank check to take all that he owned for what David had in his heart to serve the Lord.
You see, Ornan had seen something to jolt his priorities.
1 Chronicles 21:20 “And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.”
He saw an angel with a sword drawn, ready to execute judgment on Israel. Can we surmise then that having seen the angel and the hand of God caused Ornan to change his priorities?
And what of ours?
We are asked of God to yield ourselves to Him.
Romans 6:12-13 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
James 4:7-8 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
It is the heart’s desire of our God to live His life through us. In that way, we become more like Jesus every day.
Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
We cannot work to obtain that image on our own. It must be the work of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in the path to look, act, walk, and talk more like Jesus.
One of the major downfalls to this way of thinking is that we become satisfied with giving “some” instead of giving “all.”
So, what does ‘giving it all’ look like to you? Can you be devoid of any attachment to things, or money, or people enough to give? To give our time, talent, and treasure to the Lord to be used as He sees fit is just the right thing to do, don’t you think?
If not, what is it that limits you?
One last thought…
As we are the purchased possession of God, we can safely say, He owns everything. That everything ranges from my clothes, my finances, my home, and my possessions. But it goes farther.
He owns my past, my present, and my future. God owns the path I should be on, the air that I breathe, the light He provides, and the stars, sun, moon, and all that is contained therein.
As His creation, He knows every fiber of our being and the number of every hair on our heads. Because I am no longer the owner of my life, I am only a tenant inside what God gave as a vehicle for my soul to dwell.
One day, this body will fail and be put in the ground. My soul will rise heavenward and be received there forever. So, while I am here, I am only a steward of what I’ve been given.
How will it fare when asked to account for our stewardship?
Daily Manna 