Today’s New Covenant nugget is from Hebrews 11:4
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent offering than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
This is a very important and a very interesting verse, Abel gave an offering to God that He testifies about… an offering that demonstrated Abel’s righteousness, and an offering that still speaks today, thousands of years later… Cain’s offering however was rejected… what was the difference?
Let’s go back to Genesis and see what we can learn…
Genesis 4:3-7 - “And IN THE PROCESS OF TIME it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of THE FIRSTBORN of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected (Received with celebration) Abel and his offering, but He did not respect (rejected and was grieved by) Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So, the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
When we combine Hebrews 11:4 and Genesis 4:3-7, here is what is revealed…
Number one… Abel gave his offering by faith, Cain did not. Hebrews 11:4 says, “BY FAITH Abel offered to God a more excellent offering than Cain.” Doing something ‘by faith’ implies, doing it with your whole heart, doing it enthusiastically, doing it based upon the Word, doing it as an act of worship and doing it with absolute trust in the Lord.
When we do anything for the Lord, the Lord wants us to do what we do in FAITH. When you give an offering, mix your faith with it, and put thought into it… faith comes from the Word, so think about what you are doing, and do it in the light of scripture, in faith. Faith actions and gifts please God, but without faith it is impossible to please Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Number two… Abel gave the ‘firstborn’ or the ‘first-fruit’, Cain brought his offering ‘in the course of time’… the Hebrew words for ‘in the course of time’ literally say, “at the end of days”… Cain used the first and the best for his own needs, and then gave God the leftovers as an afterthought. Abel gave God the first and the best by faith and then used the rest for himself. It is easy to fall into the trap of doing what we do for God as an afterthought… fitting Him into our busy life… and giving offerings when we can afford it, after all the bills are paid. The Lord will not receive leftovers… He will only receive what we do and what we give when it is our top priority and when it is done by faith.
Number three… God does not receive all offerings… He does not receive offerings that are not given in faith, or offerings that are given ‘after’ everything else has been paid, or offerings that are given under obligation… the Lord looks at our heart, our attitude… did we make it a priority? Are we excited about it? Did we just do it without thought, or did our gift stretch us? Many people think that God receives everything, but He does not, He is GOD, and we need to HONOR Him in WHAT we do, HOW we do it and WHEN we do it. This goes for offerings as well as everything else we do towards and for the Lord… selah!
In His amazing Love, Nick
