” but on Cain and his offering He did not look with favor.” Genesis 4:5a NIV.
What do we treasure? I know I treasure money and fine jewelry and real estate. I have learned that everything I treasure may not be valued by others. Loved ones may value other things and we learn to place emphasis on those different treasures. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, has rolled of the lips of a whole generation. However, the treasure found in another’s trash rarely looks like trash once transformed into the other’s treasure. Treasure has a way of reflecting the owner or care giver. As scripture points out, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21.
God sees our heart,( the core of our total being), and deals with us according to His knowledge of our heart and hearts potential. He hates half hearted efforts. We can relate. My wife don’t like any half hearted love from me, believe, she let’s me know when I haven’t put any heart in my efforts. Once I break through with a winning effort, I feel we are beating the whole world. The same can be said about giving our best to God and He does acknowledge our efforts. I would guess most any Christian has had such experiences. God gives grace with an special dose of joy. This is God approving of our “offerings”.
Early in my faith I was full of zeal for God, zeal without maturity. This led to false humility and presumptions about God and people. The good times kept on rolling, but they were not true to Jesus and His gentle leading. My ignorance of the Spirits leading brought conflicts. Like Cain in the passage above I was disturbed because God seemed to not be accepting my offerings. I had lost the joy of the Holy Spirit. Blind to my assumptions God quietly withdrew the grace I needed. The interesting thing about the story about Cain and Able was their relationship. My brother and I don’t find ourselves in agreement often, but thankfully we didn’t find ourselves in such a bad state as Cain and Able. The problem with Cain was he didn’t heed the warning of God. The warning came from God who assessed Cain and Ables offerings. Treasure assessment is a skill all of us have acquired. My heart aint linked to any treasure unless I have assessed it worthy of my time and resources.
The sacrifices of praise and worship we offer God are out of our treasures. Unlike people God is keenly aware of our motivation and what we treasure. He is deserving of out best,( treasure), sacrifices. Sacrificing your best cost us. The cost is worth it because God is worthy of our best and more. Cain like myself was found guilty of moving from sacrifice to automated half hearted sacrifice. This looks like trash in the eye of our Holy God. He is not just inspecting our sacrifices for blemishes. He examines our motive and effort. God gave His best for us. He knows what the best sacrifices feel, smell, and act like. He gave Jesus! His eye goes about looking for true worshipers. John 4:24
If you were a King or Queen would you take trash and accept it as treasure? Be mindful God is alive and intimately aware of what we offer. God will allow disappointments in order to correct our worship and faith.
Let’s agree with God and continue to offer the best. The best is still afar don’t lose focus like Cain but do what is right. Genesis 4:6-7
Constance 