I spend enough time looking for a good deal..
That I am not surprised when the good deal is suspect, but the act of looking for discounts and cheaper prices is intended to keep more money in my own pockets!
Even with the advice from an Apple Expert, we now know the best time to buy a product from Apple with the intent on fully trying it out for as long as possible before we consider a return.
I would never walk into a car dealership and buy something on the lot for full price. Shopping around, and willing to walk out of a deal always keeps me assured I’m probably getting about the best price possible.
Even grocery shopping. Between my two local choices, I have to select one over the other for different products. One doesn’t have what I need, and the other may have a much better price. Again. Shopping for a good deal is important!
Still, there are times that scriptures notes that paying for something and not getting a discount or “deal” is found to be admirable and even sought after.
Think about David’s punishment for numbering the people of his nation. Many died as a result of his sin. But God commanded that he should erect an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite. Because it was the king, Ornan is willing to simply give it to him.
Then King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.” So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. (1 Chronicles 21:24-25 NKJV)
I will not TAKE what is Yours… I will buy it for the Full Price.
This has nothing to do with the reception of a gift that someone wants to give with no intention of a payback or recognition. This was simply the act of taking hard won and owned piece of ground and giving it to the King simply because he was the King.
David was needing to PAY for his mistake that cost so many so much. Go read the entire chapter of 1 Chronicles 21… What he did was against advice, and now David was wanting to REDEEM himself and not wanting the redemptive place to be given at no cost.
I learned a valuable lesson some time back. When given something for nothing except for the registration of an event, I found it was something that I did not commit myself to. Analyzing over my shoulder I realize it was because I had not paid for it.
Even if a discount were offered, the act of taking hard earned money and giving it to someone for something often means I’m committed to the product – and I will commit myself to using it completely.
I sense this from people at church who have committed themselves to the ministry of what we are attempting to do – they have committed and are willing to invest. Perhaps they simply follow the scripture to present their tithes and sacrificial offering to God, but when they do it at the local church then there is a sense of ownership.
Have you ever been given something and not ever had to pay for it? When I give, I buy into the product or place, and feel like I’m working hard to make successful what I’ve been given. What have you been given that you have not taken full advantage of? Maybe because it was “freely given”…