The First is not Always God's Best!

1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived , and bare Cain, and said , I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect . And Cain was very wroth , and his countenance fell .  Genesis 4:1-5

With every new event (e.g., first job, first marriage, first child) comes eager anticipation and hope. The Lord God had declared that the offspring (or Seed) of the woman would crush Satan's head. Most certainly, after giving birth to her first male child born, Eve remembered God's promise and considered that perhaps the child would be the fulfillment of the Lord's promise. The first child was named "Cain." What important "first" are you looking forward to? Are you willing to wait for God's "best"? What will you do if things do not go exactly as you planned?

We never know what our children will grow up to be, or do, with their lives. The first man born of a woman, grew up to work the earth, which the Lord had cursed (Genesis 3:17). The second man became a shepherd. The birth of the first male child, as promise-filled as his birth had been, was eclipsed by a weightier and more sobering reality: man had become capable of harboring sin in his heart as a result of the sin nature that began to progressively corrupt humankind, as a result of the fall.

In the garden, there was no strife or discord. However, the consequences of sin was becoming more obvious with time. Strife, bitterness, anger and division had entered into man's heart. Cain was obviously very jealous of the fact that the Lord accepted his brother's offering, but did not accept his. What anger, bitterness, or  lack of forgiveness are you harboring in your heart? Will you give your negative feelings to the Lord? "A broken spirit and contrite heart, God will not despise."

There has been much discussion about why the Lord accepted Abel's offering, but not Cain's. There are those who say that Cain offered the Lord fruit from the ground; ground which the Lord had cursed. Also, since his sacrifice came forth from the ground, his offering cost him a great deal of sweat and hard labor.

It's human nature to believe that the harder we work to please the Lord, the more acceptable our sacrifice will be. But, in truth, God is not impressed by our "works" of the flesh,  our ministry, our good deeds, or anything else that we do for Him that is tainted by self-determination and self-effort (i.e., the wrong motives). The Lord doesn't care about what we do as much as he cares about who we are (i.e., the condition of our hearts).

According to Hebrews 11:4, Abel's offering (a slain lamb) was accepted because it was made in faith by the man who trusted that the Lord would be satisfied with the best he had to offer (i.e., that which the Lord had provided). Have you sacrificed time, talent and/or treasure to the Lord? God is not pleased by what we sacrifice, as much as He is interested in why we sacrificed it!

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