This passage
describes two lives, Cain and Abel. Both were male children of Adam and Eve.
Cain was the first born. Abel was the younger of the two. We can see that God
played a part in their conception. With the help of God, Eve conceived Cain.
And then she conceived Abel after that. In the conception of Abel, the word “again”
suggests that in the same way God helped her with the conception of Cain, He
had also helped her with the conception of Abel.
Remember,
the source of life is God. Ability to conceive is a blessing from God. Hence it’s
important to realize that having a child is a blessing of the Lord. But equally
important is the necessity to train him or her in the fear and nurture of the
Lord. The outcome of Cain’s life, in this account, shows us how important that
is. This account shows us that life that begins with God has both the potential
to continue on the right course or depart from His intended path. A right start
with God is important, but equally important is that life must be properly harnessed,
and carefully and thoughtfully built along the way. A well-developed life shows
itself in one’s attitude toward God, self and others. Starting and ending are equally
important. The way we perceive life is cardinal. It helps us to interpret life
and make sense of the world around us. Always begin in mind where you hope to
end.
Since a
good life always begins and continues in God, putting into our life the means to
stay connected with Him is paramount. They must be given top priority. One key
thing is the worship we offer to God. Anything we bring to God to honor Him is
an act of worship. How we bring our offering is important. And in this passage we
see the issue of two different ways offerings were brought to God. The crux is often
not in what we bring to connect with God but how and with what attitude we approach
Him. Both Cain and Abel brought gifts from the works of their hands. Abel, the
younger, brought them with a heart of humility, an attitude that delighted God.
Whereas Cain brought a gift from his hand, but not a fitting attitude. We guess
that he must have approached God with a “You-ought-to-be-pleased-with-me” kind
of attitude. This kind starts with and ends with, self. In life we are all differently
gifted. We must bring whatever we have to God. But how we approach Him will
determine the degree of Divine satisfaction. A broken and contrite heart God
will not despise. He gives grace to the humble but opposes the proud and
arrogant. It behoves us, then, to carefully check our attitude as we approach God.
Be sure to come in humility and not in arrogance.
From this
account, we need also to know that what we bring to God must be our very best.
We can bring a haphazardly and hastily gathered offering or a thoughtfully, carefully
and faithfully crafted one. Like King David, we must not offer to God our
second but our very best. We cannot offer to Him what will cost us nothing. We
must give to God our choice offering. Like Abel’s choice of “…the firstlings of his flock and of their
fat portions.” When we come to God in the best way we know how
and with the best gift we can afford, we will delight Him.
Worshiping
God is an intensely personal experience. It is an experience between God and each
one of us as an individual. God looks at our heart and intention. Bear in mind,
we are not in church to compete and to show how much better we can give to God than
others. We bring our best to honor God, even if in the eyes of men it may not
seem better than someone else’s gift. We come to please God. Envy may steal our
peace and rob us of our connection with God. The best course of action is
always to hone our approach to God. Remember, when it’s all said and done, the
issue is have we given our best? Are our lives well lived? Are our works well
done? The acceptance of God is not only in what we give but how we give it.
God’s
warning to Cain also tells us how receptive we are to God’s Word will determine
how well we will act. There is a necessity to bring our life into alignment with
His Word if we are to live a God-pleasing and acceptable life. Know that our connectedness
to Him is never outside of us. It is within us and our capacity to make it
right. What God said to Cain tells us so. If we set our heart on the right
course to obey God, we will find God’s approval. The right place to begin is
our heart and not in our circumstances or the actions of others. It is in our
attitude and how we respond to God’s instruction. If we don’t, sin and the
tendency to do wrong is just crouching outside our heart. It is just a moment away.
The approach to adopt in life should be to change and find alignment with God, and
not to eliminate and remove what we see as competitors. We are not here to
compete with each other. We bring our gifts to complete each other. Let’s bring
to God offerings that are acceptable!
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