II Chronicles 3:1 Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

    I was taken to church by my parents from the time I came home from the hospital. Church was always very important to them and so was a big part of my life. My little church did not have children’s church so I learned to sit in ‘big’ church. I was a part (at some level) of what happened there. When it was time for the offering I enjoyed participating. Though for me, that amounted to holding out my hand, receiving what mom put in it, and dropping it in the plate. 

    David is known as ‘a man after God’s own heart’, though he wasn’t perfect. He had a couple of notable sins. One was when he took a census, knowing it was the wrong thing to do. This brought swift judgment and punishment from God. People were dying. David had confessed and repented, but felt the need to offer a sacrifice to God. He found the perfect place on land owned by Araunah. This man was happy to give the land to David, but David knew the meaning of sacrifice and insisted on paying for it. The sacrifice was made and the punishment ended. It was on that land, years later, that Solomon would build the temple. 

    Isn’t it interesting, Solomon didn’t pay for the land. His father did. He was the benefic-iary of another’s sacrifice. The temple was to be built and it would serve to point     people to God. It would be a place that would remind people of the cost of their sin. What Solomon and his people didn’t know at the time was that it was to be a symbol, pointing forward to another, better sacrifice. 

    This sacrifice was also very costly. To pay the penalty for our sins, Jesus offered Himself. He had no sin of His own, it was on our account that He died. Jesus’ death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice, the last sacrifice needed for sin. Many people try to do things to make up for their sin. They give money, they volunteer service, they abstain from certain foods. None of these will pay the price for their sin. The price is death. 

Romans 6:23a - For the wages of sin is death

    The good news of the Gospel is that the debt has been paid! Jesus offered to be the sacrifice and pay the penalty on our behalf! If I confess and repent of my sin, and accept Jesus as Lord of my life, I will be the beneficiary of His sacrifice!

    I never felt guilty as a child holding out my hand during offering time accepting the money that my mother would give me to put in the offering plate. It seemed the most natural thing in the world. And I don’t need to feel guilty accepting that Jesus has paid the price for my sin. I just ‘hold out my hand’ to Him and accept it!

    

Blessings,     

Pastor Russ