1 Chronicles 21:24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

There are two mindsets when it comes to sacrifice. Give ‘til it hurts. I cannot buy that which is free. While I see these two things are extremes of the same issue, I have to say, the attitudes are not as wrong as the issue itself.

Both extremes are bound up in the attitude that they own something. One values highly that which is his, the other devalues that which is his. They own nothing, it is illusionary. They hold close to themselves an attitude that God seeks sacrifice of substance because of examples laid out before them which point to Jesus and the work of the cross. The mistake is seeing that Ornan, David or the temple mount had value important to God. Not so, it was what happened upon temple mount that was important because it pointed towards Jesus and the sacrifice He made in obedience of faith.

Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

The two most important words to understand here are “His will”. My will changes nothing here. If I sacrifice my will in favor of God’s will, it changes nothing. What my sacrifice of will does do is allow for all the blessings of God’s promises to bring joy to my life in my relationship with God. God resists the proud and holding my will as important is pride.

Well what about all “my stuff”?

1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

We are merely stewards of His stuff.