II Samuel 24:24a “However, the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing.’”

David had gotten a little cocky. He decided to number the people, and upon realizing he had sinned he sought the Lord’s forgiveness. So…God sent Gad to give David His message. All this led to David needing a place to build an altar to offer sacrifices to God. He was offered the land and everything he needed to conduct the sacrifice for free from Araunah. Sounds like a deal to me! But not to David. He knew his sin demanded that he make this his sacrifice, not one provided by another.

Teaching our kids about making sacrifices has a different meaning today. We don’t take them out and kill and lamb and burn it on an altar. Of course, roasted lamb is pretty good. No, making sacrifices today means giving up something that may be okay but just not right at the time. It may mean letting someone else get the bigger piece of pie. It may mean offering all your allowance to help someone who has a greater need than you.

However we teach them, sacrifice is a lesson that can only be learned by the individual doing the sacrificing. Your children can’t learn sacrifice by watching someone else. Now they can appreciate their sacrifice, but they can’t really understand the true nature of sacrifice until they willingly give something up.

Look for that “special” opportunity for your child to “sacrifice” something. God will show when it’s time to teach this lesson. Your child has to be ready to make the sacrifice on their own. Forcing a sacrifice is just as bad as providing it for them. God will tell you. Just listen!