Genesis 4:4-16(NLT)
Cain and Abel
4 Now Adam[a] had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced[b] a man!” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.
When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.
6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
8 One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.”[c] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.
9 Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”
“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. 12 No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”
13 Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment23 is too great for me to bear! 14 You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!”
15 The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. 16 So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod,[e] east of Eden.
As I was reading Genesis 4 I felt the Lord reveal to me what my fasting in January should look like and I thought I’d share it with you.
Many of you know the story of Cain and Abel and how Cain killed Abel because God doesn’t accept his gift. I want to look at why and search my heart to see if I’m Cain or Abel when it comes to fasting for God. I understand that fasting and giving a gift to God are different things but what I want you to know is that they both require the standard of “the best.”
When looking at verse 3 it says that Cain presents some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. In verse 4 it says that Abel also brought a gift, detailing that it is the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel’s gift and not Cain’s. Is it because meat is better than veggies? Maybe but I believe it had something to do with the heart.
In verse 7 the Lord confronts Cain about being angry and looking dejected (sad & depressed) saying that he would be accepted if he did what was right. God seems to be suggesting that what he was doing wasn’t right but it looked right, didn’t it? When it came time to give he gave. When we compare the two gifts from Cain and Abel, the difference was in what they gave. Cain gave some of his crops while Abel gave the best portions of the first born lamb of his flock.
What we can put together from this is that it is RIGHT to give your BEST to God. This sounds very simple in theory but what happens when God comes knocking on your door asking for your best?
When it comes to your time with Him, are you giving Him some of your time or the best (Your attention with intention and energy)?
What about the things you value? The things that you were given to steward but because you’ve been holding on to them for a long time you thought that it was yours now (finances, relationships etc.)?
God Has really challenged me in this area of my life. He said to me “I see how excited you get when you spend time with Jen, how much effort you put in working out, but when it comes to giving Me your Best, it looks like I get the leftovers.” Ouch…the Lord was right. I wasn’t giving God the same energy I would put forth in other things. I wasn’t giving God the Best of my time but really the time I had left over. Then God said to me “When people used to come over for dinner, did you give them leftovers or some of what you had? Or did you make them a whole meal and give them your best? If you do that for people, what do you think I deserve?”
It is important for us to give God our best not just because it is the right thing to do but look at what happened to Cain. In the rest of verse 7 God says if you refuse to do what is right watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. You must subdue it and be its master.
If doing the right thing isn’t as appealing to you maybe consider what’s on the other side of it. The enemy is waiting for you to not do the right thing. To use sin to control you! But God commands us that we must “subdue it and be its master.” Don’t let sin come in and try and control you, do the right thing and if you’re unsure what that is, go to God and ask Him. I’m sure he’ll have no problem showing you. Cain didn’t do the right thing and allowed sin to control him. He wasn’t able to subdue it and it resulted in his brother’s death. The ramifications of his actions caused him to be banished from the land and from God’s presence. No matter how hard he worked, the ground would not yield him good crops, basically his livelihood was gone. All this from one decision in his heart.
As we are fasting this January, let us not go through the motions. Let us give the King above all kings what is RIGHT and what He deserves. If you haven’t decided what to fast yet, consider giving Him your Best! Let us create a habit this year of MAKING EVERY EFFORT! God wants our BEST and He wouldn’t ask for it if He didn’t think you could give it to him! Believe it and Receive it!
I pray that we would live in a way that is acceptable to God and to do what is right. I pray that we would always give God our Best no matter the season we are in. I pray that we would never take anything He has given us for granted. I pray Psalms 139:23-24 over each and every single one of us. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” I pray this all in Jesus Name, Amen!