"Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering…" - Gen 4:4
Abel communicated the Gospel to Cain (whether he listened or not) through his offering; it was the first and it was the best.
And why was Abel's offering the first and the best? Because he knew his significance (or lack thereof) in comparison to God. Without God, Abel would not have existence, or the essentials of life (shelter, clothing, food, the offering itself), or Cain for that matter.
Abel knew what the tax collector in Luke 18 knew and hopefully what all of you reading this now know – we are sinners who need God's mercy – we are of no significance without Him.
Abel also knew what the poor widow in Mark 12 knew – God is deserving of an offering that consists of all that we have; we are not to withhold anything from Him. We are to trust that whatever provision He has for us today – grace, faith, money, or time – is more abundant than any offering we are making to Him.
Abel gave the first and the best; the poor widow gave the most. In both instances an offering that was observed by others was made, in both instances an offering was used as a means to communicate the good news of God to those witnessing the act.
Now, let's not take this out of biblical context and begin giving our offerings with pomp and circumstance. Let us also not limit our offerings to monetary contributions. "What other offerings might we make?" you ask. I'll answer that with a question of my own. What has God given to you that you might offer back to Him? That question is answered in Genesis 1:26 – we have been made in God's own image and, therefore, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we have access to those parts of us that reflect Him. We can love, be kind, be merciful, be gracious, and be forgiving, and those things can be made manifest through acts inside of relationships.
Maybe these things come super easy to a lot of you in all of your relationships, but I definitely have those difficult, pesky, stomach churning relationships in my life. And it is definitely a sacrificial offering of my spirit when I encounter those people. But I'm going to trust in God and His provisions for those relationships. I'm going to trust that when I sacrificially offer up kindness, meekness, vulnerability, and love, then His good news is made known to those around me.
Whatever we do daily, let's give it our first, our best, and our most, remembering that we can't outgive God, but that we can give what He has first given to us. We can bear His image – sacrificially offering of ourselves – and in doing so communicate His good news.
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
No comments:
Post a Comment