Uncomfortable S2 - Day 8

2 Samuel 24:18 On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. 20 When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

We see David following the will of God. This is a quick truth that we need to recognize. Worship starts with obedience. We go where God leads, and worship is often the fuel that takes us there. However, there is a price to be paid. Obedience is that price. So we see David again following God in what he should do and his next steps. 

He was told to build an altar. An altar is a memorial to something in the past. It's the same idea as a gravestone or a sign on the freeway commemorating someone who has gone before. But an altar, usually a pile of stones, commemorates how God has moved in the past and teaches us how God will move in the present and future. 

So the Israelites were walking into the future backward, always keeping their eyes on what God was doing. Walking backward into the future lets us recognize and keep in our hearts the way that God has been good to us. We recognize his good works, hopes, and dreams for us, and we always keep present in our minds the goodness of God. 

We also see the obedience of Araunah the Jebusite. When he saw his king and the entourage show up, he threw himself on the ground. This is obedience to his king. He was not too proud that he wouldn’t bow to his king. While there might have been civic consequences if he didn’t, we see this Jebusite honoring the hierarchy of Israel. 

In the same way, our worship begins with obedience. God asks us to do big things, but they usually begin with a small ask of God in our lives. For the disciples, it was to go to the hill God had asked them to go to. It might be something else for us, but the cost of worship begins with obedience to the ask of God in our lives.

JOURNAL:

1. What price would you pay to worship God? 
2. Have you ever thought about what you can give God before you worship? 
3. What is God asking for obedience for in your life right now?