2 Samuel 24:24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
God and Me time builds an altar of sacrifice where we meet with Lord. It builds a God-Space for the Almighty to dwell in. This God-Space turns our body tarnished by sin into a temple. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own (1 Corinthians 6:19). Building the God-Space and renovating our bodies to become the dwelling place of God costs our comfort, time and changes. It would require learning and unlearning, sacrifice and mortification of carnal desires.
King David teaches us a reflective lesson on creating the God-Space to make our bodies the God’s dwelling place. The angel of the Lord had appeared on the threshing floor of Araunah which was on Mt. Moriah and the prophet instructed him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite” (vs 18). (This is also the place where King Solomon built the Temple of the Lord (2 Chronicles 3:1)). David purchased the land from Araunah at the price and built an altar to worship the Lord. Araunah generously gave up his threshing floor to the king but David made the profound statement “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” God-Space is built at a cost. God and Me time that creates the God-Space is built at the cost of our time, pleasure and leisure.
God and Me time creates ‘God-Space’:
1. Price: David paid a price to purchase the threshing floor of Araunah. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them (vs24b). To become the dwelling place of the Lord and to offer sweet smelling sacrifices of praise, we must pay a price. The cost would be a disciplined life and a prayer routine. Salvation is free but sanctification is pricey.
2. Place: A threshing floor is a place that would be buzzing with energy during harvest. The grains will be separated from the chaff, collecting and sorting the valuable crop from the useless husk. This required effort and a lot of energy. God and Me time does the same to our soul and spirit. It separates fruitless and futile entanglements in our soul and enlightens the spirit with the revelation of Christ Jesus.
3. Purpose: David purchased the property to build an altar but the threshing floor became the Temple of the Lord for the generations of David to worship. The purpose and the significance of the God-Space does not stop with making our body God’s dwelling place but also paves the way for our future generation to serve God.
God and Me time makes God-Space to transform our mortal bodies into the dwelling place of the Almighty God.
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Prayer: Father God, help my God and Me time to be the threshing floor that transforms me into your temple. Amen.
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