Every athlete will tell you that sacrifice is necessary to achieve a goal of fitness or victory. So will businessmen, actors, prophets and teachers at school. Sacrifice is a necessary element in anything significant we want to achieve.
Some get obsessed by it and drive themselves over the brink! Pride connects with motivation very easily, but the biblical perspective keeps us balanced.

David counted the nation towards the end of his reign without asking them to pay census tax (to keep them humble) and God had to punish the nation. When he repented he made significant sacrifice that moved the hand of God to stay the plague that came as punishment for David's disobedience.Sowing a Significant Seed
04/10/10

David said I will not give God anything that costs me nothing: in other words, he made up his mind to sow a significant seed. In order to break through the barriers that keep you trapped where you are, you have to make a special effort. In order to break through into new dimensions, you have to do something to tell God that you are ready for a break through.
It is useless to carry on as usual and expect something mind-blowing to happen. You cannot keep your routine and expect something special to take place. If you want to see things change, if you want to see a break through in your life, you can let God know that you are ready for it. You can sow a significant seed, just like David did.

Once you have sown a significant seed, it is important to keep a right heart attitude of praise and worship to God. You have to water a seed before it will bear fruit. Your trust in God after sowing that seed will determine the level of your breakthrough.

One of God’s Redemptive Names is ‘The God of the Break Through’.

As we prepare to buy property and to build a church sanctuary where our children’s children can continue worshipping God, we need to consider the significant seed we are about to sow.

Significant infers that it has a special meaning to you. What has special meaning to you might be different from the person next to you. You determine what is special to you. To the old widow in the New Testament, two mites were special, because it was her last. Jesus commended her for it. The rich man gave much more, but he gave out of his abundance and it was not a significant gift.
Jesus rebuked him for that. Jesus knows just how much each of us can give to make our gift significant.

If you want to see a breakthrough in your life; if you want to see a breakthrough in your finances; if you want to see the God of the Breakthrough visit your house, then sow a significant seed: God responds to obedient sacrifice! Do what God tells you to do. He will not deceive you or rob you: He will prepare you for your breakthrough.

II Samuel 22: 30-32
0For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall. 31As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him. 32For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God? 33God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.

Daivd knew how to praise God in a way that satisfied the heart of God. He knew how to bring the sacrifices of praise to God.

One day, towards the end of his reign, David made a terrible mistake. He wanted to know how big his kingdom was and ordered the leaders to count the people of Israel without letting them pay taxes for the census. He omitted a small detail in the law of God and caused God to become angry. God stipulated that census tax should be paid by everyone so that no one would become proud of their number. Pride resists God and God resists the proud.

David realised he had done wrong and ordered an altar to be built so that he could make a sacrifice for his wrong doing.
II Samuel 24:18-25
18And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded. 20And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground. 21And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people. 22And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. 23All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee. 24And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the

Aurauna means ‘jouful shouting of Jah’!
Jebus means ‘threshing place’.
Cost me nothing is ‘chimmam’ without cause.

50 Shekels is about $200 000 in today’s terms. It was a significant seed!

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.