In Genesis 4, Cain and Abel each bring an offering to God. God accepts Abel’s offering but rejects Cain’s. Why does God accept one and reject the other?

Because, with a heart full of faith (Heb. 11:4), Abel brought the best of what he had to the Lord. Abel’s attitude was, “Because God is what’s most important to me, I want to give him the best of what I have.” So he brought the firstborn and the fat portions, and “the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering” (v. 4).

Cain, on the other hand, did not bring the best of what he had. He did not bring the firstfruits of the ground. And he did not bring his offering with trust and hope in the Lord. His heart was not in it. He brought his offering because he had to, not because he wanted to. As a result, the Lord did not accept his offering.

Abel brought his best out of a heart of faith and was accepted. Because God was the most important thing to him, he gave him the best of what he had.

We should ask ourselves, “What does bringing our best to God look like?” Not to earn his favor – we can only have that through faith in Christ, the only One who gave a perfect offering to God. But for those who have the favor of God in Christ, how can we be like Abel and not like Cain? What are the “firstborn of our flocks” and our “fat portions”? How do we give God our best?

The Bible is filled with ways we can serve and obey the Lord. Here are ten of the most important ways we can reveal that God is the highest treasure of our lives:

First, if you are not yet a Christian, you should turn from your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Second, you should be baptized, join a local church, and gather with them regularly for worship (Acts 2:38, 1 Cor. 12:13, Heb. 10:24-25). Being vitally connected to a local church is loving what God loves.

Third, you should love other Christians. 1 John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

Fourth, you should love righteousness and hate sin. 1 John 3:9-10, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.”

Fifth, you should love your neighbors, that is, anyone who God brings into your life. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:39).

Sixth, you should love your enemies, that is, anyone who hates you or opposes you unjustly. Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 5:44-45).

Seventh, you should help other people follow Jesus, that is, you should “make disciples” (Mt. 28:19).

Eighth, you should carry yourself with an attitude that reflects the light of God. Philippians 2:14-15, “Do all things without grumbling and complaining, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”

Ninth, you should give sacrificially, generously, consistently, and joyfully to the cause of Christ in your local church first and then to other opportunities as they arise (2 Cor. 8:1-5, 9:6-7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Gal. 6:6).

Tenth, you should spend daily time in prayer and reading the Bible (Mt. 6:6, Col. 3:16). Spending time with the Lord in honest prayer and meditation on his word will give you the fuel and grace you need to do all the other things that magnify the glory of Christ in your life.

Please do not misunderstand: this is not a list to check-off so that you can rest assured that you belong to God. Only those who belong to Christ through faith and repentance belong to God. But those who do belong to God build habits that reflect how much he’s worth to them. May God make us like Abel, who gave the best of what he had to God because God was more than worth it.

Stumbling Forward in These Things, With You,

Pastor John