An Acceptable offering
As we approach April, churches begin to grow excited as Easter or (what I like to call) Resurrection Sunday draws nearer. If your church is anything like mine, the topics of first fruits and giving arise. The Lord began to speak to my heart on the subject as I was sitting in on a service today.
Now, before I proceed, I want to make clear that I believe in the power of giving. I have seen God provide in my situations when I had close to nothing, revealing to me the importance of trusting Him with my finances. On the other hand, I have found myself struggling financially in times where I grew selfish even though I was zealous to make my finances grow.
As I sat and listened to the sermon today, I disagreed with the first part. The pastor spoke on the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. He began to describe how God was pleased with Abel’s offering but was displeased with Cain’s. As I read along in my Bible, I noticed a small yet significant flaw with his interpretation. When we approach this story, it is crucial that we understand Cain, Abel, and where they both derived their offerings.
“...Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.”
Genesis 4:2 reveals that Abel was a shepherd and Cain farmed crops. Now you might be thinking, “Duh,” but this is key to the following verses.
“In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.”
Cain gave an offering to the LORD from the realm in which he worked. Verse four says, “Abel ALSO” brought the offering of which he worked. It may seem insignificant, but the word ‘also’ is pivotal to this context. Genesis describes their offering on equal grounds. Because of the word ‘also,’ we can determine that both Cain and Abel gave unto the LORD the firsts of their harvests.
“And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; but for Cain and his offering He had no regard.”
So the question arises, “Why did God look upon Abel and Cain differently?” The verses state that “the LORD had regard for Able and his offering; but for Cain and his offering He had no regard.” God was looking at Abel and Cain before he was looking at their offering. God had regard for Abel’s heart in the giving of his offering but He had no regard for Cain’s heart in the giving of his offering. Although what they were offering was important, God cared about the heart of who was giving the offering over the weightiness of the what that was being offered.
God cares for the heart of the who over the weight of the what.
We see this in the New Testament with the Pharisees. The Pharisees made sacrifices and followed the law more religiously as anyone else, but God was not amused. Jesus makes this plain in His Sermon on the Mount.
“For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The truth is, whether it comes to tithing, giving, or first fruits, it is important to ask God to search our hearts and ask how we can give Him of our hearts before we give Him of our possessions. Ultimately, this truth goes beyond money and possessions, it is a part of our every day walk with Christ.
Let’s start asking ourselves:
“Have I offered God my heart at work?”
“Have I offered God my heart at school?”
“Have I offered God my heart in my relationships?”
“Have I offered God my heart in my spare time?”
Whatever the case may be, God is looking for a surrendered heart. Let that be your first fruit offering that you give him before everything else. Otherwise, what is the point of giving Him anything extra? Like Cain, He will give it no regard.
