Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 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, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 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.”
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
Genesis 4:2-11
Cain and Abel had two very different jobs, so God wasn’t comparing the two brothers. The fact is that Able had done good with the offering he made, but Cain had done bad, because he didn’t care about the quality of what he was offering to God.
We can rest assured that God will gladly bless us, when we serve Him with all of our heart, in whatever He calls us to do for Him, but He doesn’t just want any kind of service offered to Him, He wants our best. Make no mistake, our best can look different, depending on the day, the energy level, our health, time, and resources, but it should not be that we become careless about the way we serve God.
I know when we were going to restaurants, before Covid, we expected to receive quality service from our waiter. We were paying good money, so we felt we should get our money’s worth, right! Nevertheless, when we got bad food, we had the plate taken off of our bill, because only the Lord know what some people would do to your food if you ask them to fix your plate. If, we got bad service, then that waiter would most likely get a small tip, or no tip at all.
Listen Cain’s offering was rejected by God, because he had the resource, energy, time, and ability to give a good offering, but it wasn’t important enough. To him it was a waste of his time. He felt like God should be willing to accept whatever he offered to Him, besides it was “Cain’s” hard work that produced the crop, right!
That’s how we think sometimes though! We continue to give God second best knowing that we can do better a lot of times, but we feel, that effort and time, needs to be allocated to something more important than God. Sad, but true! But when we think about this carefully, we should understand that nothing that we have belongs to us.
No abilities, gifts, talents, money, jobs, kids, families, homes, or even life itself belongs to us! But, see Cain felt like he didn’t have anyone to answer to, so he chose not to care that God rejected his offering and He closed his ears to God.
Some Christians have given up on trying to serve God, because they feel like they’re not accepted anywhere, but God wants you to listen to Him and do His will, not man’s will, not your will, but we have to let go of our past failures. You have to ask the question: WHY AM I SO ANGRY inside? The past already happened, you can’t fix that, it’s over, it doesn’t matter anymore and that’s not an excuse to stop offering quality service to God! You gotta let it go! Your past does not determine what you do in the present!
This message disciplines me spiritually, because I’ve got to eat this and sometimes our plate is so full, that even though God’s word is like a good slab of ribs, we don’t have room for it, but listen! If your spiritual “Myplate” does not have God’s word as the main course, then it’s empty and you have to start changing your priorities.
The bible says in verse 6,
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 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.”
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[d] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 4:6-8
Cain felt that everyone thought Abel was the chosen son and that he was just left-overs. So, he thought that he would get rid his problems, by getting rid of his brother, to make everyone else feel his pain. “Misery loves company”!
Some of us as Christians can feel the same way sometimes. If only I don’t run into sister “so and so”, I won’t be reminded of how better I think she is than me, or as long as I don’t run into brother “such and such”, I won’t remember how inadequate I feel in my faith. No, seriously we can’t look at what other Christians are doing and covet their praises, their gifts and talents, their calling!
We have to do what God has called us to do and do it well, as to the Lord and we will be accepted by God. Cain was so busy worrying about the praises that Abel got, that he couldn’t even pay attention to the encouragement that his heavenly father was giving him. God said, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”
Be responsible with the life and ministry(s), that God has given you and serve Him in the calling on your life that He has called you to. You cannot be like everybody else. You must listen to God, offer Him good service, change your thinking according to the word of God and stop trying to live like other people.
God is telling us, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” Cain hated his brother’s success so much, he murdered him. Our success and the success of our brothers and sisters in Christ, is the success of the kingdom of God, together! Be encouraged today and I will leave you with this:
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
Luke 10:25-28
God bless you all! In Jesus name, Amen!
Salvation Plan
Today, if you have not received Salvation or you would like to rededicate your life back to Christ, say this prayer:
God, I know that I am a sinner. Right now, Lord, I turn from my sins, and I ask you to forgive me. Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross and rose from the grave, for me. I open my heart and life for You to come in, and I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Thank You, God for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Read the Book of John in the Bible. Find out who Christ is, and how He loves you, yes you!
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Love,
Randomnestfamily
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