We Give Thee But Thine Own

725 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 24:22,23 “Now Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 "All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the LORD your God accept you." (2 Sam 24:22,23) Araunah, who is also called Ornan in 1 Chron 21:18 is a farmer. The king pays a God-ordered visit to him for the purpose of making a sacrifice that would end the terrible plague that God had sent to Israel because of the sin of David. Ornan is certainly aware of this plague that has already resulted in the deaths of 70,000 men, and he sees this as an opportunity for him to do something about. David came to the threshing floor with no animals to sacrifice and no wood to kindle a fire, not even any grain to offer up to the Lord, and so Ornan says, “Here I have what you need for a sacrifice, take it, and may God receive it and stop the plague.” This was not an inexpensive gesture on the part of Ornan. He was giving up some pretty pricey animals and equipment for the sake of stemming the plague. We get further details on this exchange with David in 1Ch 21:23 And Ornan said to David, "Take it to yourself, and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. Look, I also give you the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing implements for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering; I give it all." “I give it all.” Ornan evidently understood that everything he had was a gift from God and therefore was willing to place it in the Lord''s hands. This reminds me of an old hymn entitled “We Give Thee But Thine Own We give thee but thine own, whate'er the gift may be; all that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from thee. May we thy bounties thus as stewards true receive, and gladly, as thou blessest us, to thee our first-fruits give. To comfort and to bless, to find a balm for woe, to tend the lonely in distress, is angels' work below. The captive to release, to God the lost to bring, to teach the way of life and peace - it is a Christ-like thing. And we believe thy Word, though dim our faith may be; whate'er for thine we do, O Lord, we do it unto thee. Ornan was willing to give it all as a balm for the woe and distress of the people. The lesson for all of us is be willing to give, “whatever that gift may be.