When David made the first attempt to take the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he and the priests placed it on an ox cart.

This was completely contrary to God’s instruction, which specifically determined that the sacred utensils be carried on their shoulders with the rings and rods as support. It meant that the outer structure of the moving temple could travel on carts, but that the most sacred objects found in the tabernacle required sacrifice in its transportation.

It was not simply to dismantle the sanctuary and let the carts do the work, but it was part of the priests’ sacrifice to carry on their shoulders the weight of the responsibility of their position, represented by each element. Many years had passed since the Mosaic Law had been established, so, a ‘good’ idea arose to facilitate this: let us prepare a new cart and ‘honour God’ with it.

The apparent newness was in fact a great act of negligence, because whether it was new or old, a cart is a cart. Therefore, neither one sufficed to serve this purpose because it did not follow the Divine instruction.

Upon realizing the mistake he had committed, David decided to transport the Ark the way it was supposed to have been and he did even more; sacrificing oxen and fatted sheep every six paces. They went the whole way walking and then stopping to sacrifice. We can imagine how much longer and more difficult the journey must have become!

So, we learn that we who do the work of God, cannot look for what is easy because the ‘ox carts’ will always appear in order to tempt us to reduce our sacrifice. However, the most sensible and sure thing to do, is to increase the sacrifice and not to reduce it. As the years of our Christian journey go by, the more renunciations we will have to make in order to maintain the faith, or else we will end up yielding to the subtle suggestions of evil.

Serving God on the altar requires a sacrifice at every step, and this is something personal and non-transferable! Each one of us must be willing to pay the price, in order to enjoy the honour of being called a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

‘And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fattened sheep.’ 2 Samuel 6.13