Bible Snack #51

​Not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous (1 John 3:12).
 
What works were so evil that Cain would kill his brother? It was a matter of their offerings. Cain, the older one, brought the first fruits from his fields as an offering to God, while Abel, the younger brother, brought a first born lamb as his offering. God preferred the lamb. So what’s the big deal? Wheat should be a good offering, or corn, of even zucchini. However, God had cursed the ground because Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He set the example of a good offering by killing the first animals and making clothing for the first couple from the animal skins.
 

Like Jesus said, He only did what He saw the Father doing, and He only said what He heard the Father saying. Taking our lives into our own hands and determining our own path is like spitting in God’s face. He chose how the world would turn. He chose how we would honor Him. In those days it was a lamb that brought honor to God because that was a symbol of the coming Lord Jesus. He was to be our sacrificial lamb. To miss the clues of God is to miss His leadership, which is always kind, beneficial, and providential for us. What makes a good offering today? Simply said:  time and money. An offering of time is a session of praise.
 
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name (Hebrews 13:15).
 
We give the sacrifice of praise, giving thanks, and we are the ones who are blessed. God blesses our approved offerings, but our blessings can make our friends and neighbors, and even family, jealous, sometimes even to the point of murder. Jealousy is of the wicked one, but their jealousy shouldn’t stop us.
 
An offering of money is above the tithe, which makes it more precious because it’s more difficult to give, yet it renders the greatest rewards.
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“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8).
 
Give to God as He requires, the tithe of ten percent and an escalating percentage above that for the offering. We won’t be making His life better; we’ll be making our lives better.