Inner Thoughts With Abba

This wonderful morning, I was teaching my children’s class about sibling rivalry using the story of Cain and Abel. I saw this narrative in a fresh light and decided to write it right away. Therefore, you are receiving hot, fresh bread. Perhaps some of you have already noticed this positive light in this story, in which case please share your lessons in the comment. However, some of us are seeing it for the first time in that light. Indeed, all the principles we need are in the word. 

At this point, you must be thinking, “Mary can you just share this light with me?”  Yes, I will, my fellow light bearer. The light is how we can apply the Cain and Abel story to everything that has to do with achieving success in life. Although the topic of my lesson was sibling rivalry, I will broaden this to include any kind of rivalry. The rivalry I’m talking about here is when you compare yourself unfavourably to another person, which causes resentment, jealousy, or conflict.

Although I am sure you have already read this story, please be patient and accompany me as I tell this narrative. The brothers Abel and Cain each offered a sacrifice to the Lord. Abel offered the Lord a very good sacrifice and his very best. On the other hand, Cain did not intentionally provide the best; instead, he simply offered whatever. God rejected Cain’s offering but accepted Abel’s.

Cain became envious and enraged, and he killed Abel. We understand killing another person is a serious offence, and as a result, Cain was punished by God. Cain was envious because God accepted Abel’s offering but not his own. Do we understand why God accepted Abel’s sacrifice but rejected Cain’s? It is because Cain did not provide his greatest offering, which indicated that he did not respect God, but Abel gave his best offering to demonstrate his reverence and trust for God. God would have accepted Cain’s best offering if he had made it, and Cain wouldn’t have had any need to be envious of Abel or to kill him. Abel was not the issue; rather, Cain’s lack of effort to get the reward was the issue. God asked Cain “if you did well will you not be accepted?”.

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.”

Genesis 4:7

This means that when our brothers, sisters, friends, or co-workers accomplish something that we do not, we shouldn’t view them as the issue or the enemy. Instead, let’s do what they did and give our best to succeed. For instance, if a co-worker puts in extra hours at work while you choose to watch movies, do not become resentful when they get promoted. Do not get resentful when your friend begins to see the benefits of their new skill, they got up at midnight mastering while you were still asleep. While you frequent different restaurants or spend lavishly on clothing, your brother or sister is diligently saving money each month to start a profitable business or buy that property. Do not be angry with them because they made a worthy sacrifice.

Cain and Abel both made sacrifices, but Abel made a good sacrifice while Cain did not. In reality, this looks like you sacrificing your time to watch movies or sleep while someone else sacrificing their time to fellowship with Abba, which bears limitless fruit. Additionally, it looks like you spending your money on a bags or vacation while someone else is spending their money on a property that would provide more rental income. Therefore, it involves first offering a good sacrifice and doing it from the bottom of your heart. According to Hebrews, Abel’s offering was a demonstration of his faith in God. He offered God his best because he recognised God as his source and was confident that by doing so, God would reward him.

According to the Bible, we must act as though God is watching over everything we do. It follows that everything we do—including our work, service, marriage, relationships, friendships, businesses, and so forth—should be done as an offering to the Lord. We want to give the Lord our best, thus it should be done as worship. This means that we should put our best effort into everything we do. When we give our everything, God receives it as a pleasant aroma, acknowledges it, and bestows His blessings.

23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3:23-24

Abel gave his best, and it was viewed as a demonstration of faith. That implies that exercising faith entails giving our all in whatever we do and failing to do so means failing to exercise faith. It is impossible to please God without faith since faith is the understanding of God’s might and His role as a rewarder. Faith without works is dead. Therefore, in order to see God appear in certain areas of our lives, we must give it our all since doing so is an act of faith that calls God’s attention to that area. Simply said, put your best effort forward in all you do if you want to see God’s hand and success in it.

4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

Hebrews 11:4

Giving your best is an act of faith (an offering) that goes up to God as a pleasant fragrance and causes Him to bless you. If you are diligent in your work, you will be able to see His hand; He rewards you because that is His promise.

Now that you are aware of this, you have no need to engage in unhealthy rivalry with those around you, which could result in even worse outcomes, as it did with Cain. Concentrate on yourself and development with God. Have you ever heard the statement, “Your only competition, is you?”.  I have practical action steps in my upcoming post if you struggle with following through like I do. Please sign up so you may be notified when we post. Please like, comment and share.