GODLINESS does not come easy—you let go of the old to live in the new.
God wants you to walk out so that he can walk in. He wants you to decrease that he might increase.
NOT LONG after the children of Israel left Egypt, God instructed Moses to count the people.
He wanted to know those twenty years and older who could serve in the army (Numb. 1:1-3)
A second census was taken just before they entered the promised land to prepare for future property allocation (Numb. 26:1-4).
So taking a census wasn't sinful in itself.
However, after the Lord had settled David on every side, he requested a census to determine the strength of his army.
David's intention was wrong.
IN THE PAST, David would ask the Lord for direction.
At Ziklag, he asked if he could pursue the people who raided his camp (1 Sam. 30:8).
After the death of Saul, he asked the Lord if he could go into Judah (2 Sam. 2:1-7)
But he didn't ask in this case. And when Joab respectfully objected, he rejected his counsel. David set himself up to report to no one.
I pray that you'll be accountable to God as he blesses you.
WHEN DAVID counted the people, he saw them as his. We must be careful of the pronoun we use.
May God have mercy upon us when we say: my church.
The church is His; the people are his. Only God can lay claim to them.
Israel wasn't David's but God's.
WE MUST be careful of our actions because they affect others.
David took God out of the picture. So, God punished Israel. Then, God sent Gad to him.
"I am offering you a choice of three punishments. Make your selection, and I will do that to you." (1 Chron. 21:11-12)
Choose one: three years of famine, three months of pursuit by your enemies or three days of plague and destruction.
He chose to fall into the hands of God.
A PLAGUE came upon Israel—and seventy thousand men died in one day. God reduced the number of people David thought he had to teach him a lesson.
When David saw the angel of the Lord with his sword stretched over Jerusalem, he and the elders wore sackcloth. They mourned.
"Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd, have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people." (1 Chron. 21:17)
David took ownership of his sin. He acknowledged that they were the people of God—he changed his pronoun from mine to thine.
WHEN GOD appeared to Solomon the night that the temple was dedicated, He asked Solomon what he wanted.
Therefore, Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, so I may discern between good and evil, for who can manage this, your great people?" (1 Kings 3:1-9)
Solomon acknowledged that they were the people of God. He validated God as his sponsor.
WE MUST learn to give back to God what he's given to us.
Abraham learnt this lesson when God told him to sacrifice his only son. And when he tried to do so, God stopped him (Gen. 22:12).
Just as integrity is a test of prosperity, giving to God is a test of ownership.
Giving to God is a test of ownership
Abraham's willingness to give his son confirmed that Isaac was God's.
I pray that you'll be bold enough to return everything to Him.
THE ANGEL of the Lord told Gad to tell David to build God an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan.
When Ornan saw the king, he left his chores and prostrated before him.
David shared why he was there, and Ornan offered him the land for free.
But David told him he wouldn't give God something that cost him nothing (1 Chron. 21:22-24)
Final Thought
WHEN YOU understand that you cannot give God something that costs you nothing, you'll realize that nothing was yours in the first place.