Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:2b-7
“We have to offer the best we have to God. Wet ave to present the offering of Abel, not that of Cain. We re to give God the best of our time, our goods, our life. We cannot give him the worst, what is surplus to our requirements, what makes no real demand on us or what’s left over or what we don’t need. The whole of our life is for God, and that includes the best years of it. Everything we have is for God but when we want to make an offering let us use the most precious things, just as we would do in making a gift to a fellow creature we hold in great esteem.”
Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 319.
My computer stopped working on my Panama trip. Now that I home, I have sent it out for repairs and managed to get my old computer work, so I am back online.
Though I don’t have the capacity to change the header photo (we get to look at the Panama Canal for a few more days), I can do daily posts again.
Thanks for your prayers and for the many who inquired of my wellbeing. I’m fine by my computer will not be working for a 5-10 days. But this unit will suffice.
Today’s reading comes to us from a class 7-volume set of by Fernandez. He looks at the offering of Abel in contrast to Cain and makes a powerful point.
God finds it acceptable when we give him our best. The best implies sacrifice that makes real demand on us or represents that which is most precious to us. It is not our surplus or our leftovers.
I recently listened to a sermon on generosity where the speaker talked about learning to give his surplus. Sadly, giving our surplus is giving a gift of Cain.
Giving a sacrifice (in contrast to surplus), is giving the first and best parts. This is the offering of Abel. God looks on this with favor because he can see the difference.
After a post like this, each of us might benefit from asking ourselves this question, especially if we want him to look in favor at our giving. Am I giving my best to God?