06
Who Gets Your Best?
In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Genesis 4:3-5
Have you ever been eating a bowl of popcorn or a plate of nachos and someone reaches over and grabs some for themselves? How did that make you feel? Did you feel the urge to slap their hand away and tell them to get their own? It’s funny how protective we are of our food when we’re hungry, but once we have our fill, whatever is left over, we don’t really care if someone else helps themselves to it. Once we’re done and full, it’s easy to be generous and give away whatever is left over.
This picture lends itself perfectly to a biblical principle which is incredibly important to legacy. It’s not difficult to give God our leftovers. It’s not really much of a sacrifice at all. If we have anything left over after we’ve taken care of our own needs, our bills and urgent expenses, then we’ll gladly give it to someone in need, or to the local church, or to someone who asks for help. But God doesn’t want our leftovers, actually He can’t accept our leftovers. His nature won’t allow Him to accept anything less than the best. God desires our first and our best. He demands our first and our best. And He deserves our first and our best.
In your own household, one of these statements is true. God either gets your first and best, or He doesn’t. Today’s passage from Genesis chapter 4 perfectly shows us this principle. At first reading of this passage, we can almost see God as being unfair in the story of Cain and Abel. After all, both Cain and Abel brought an offering to God. They both sacrificially gave something which had value in order to show honor to God. But God looked with favor on one offering, but on the other God did not look with favor. How can this be? That’s not fair, is it?
It’s only upon closer inspection that we begin to discern the nature of God and the reason one offering was accepted and one was rejected. Abel brought an offering of the fat portions from the firstborn of his flock. But Cain brought an offering of some of the fruits he had collected over the course of time. To simplify, Abel brought an offering of his first and his best, but Cain’s offering was collected and put together from leftovers. One was the first and the best, but the other was the last and the worst. The offerings may look similar on the surface at first glance, but on a deeper spiritual level they could not be more opposite. God will gladly accept the first and the best, because that is who He is and that is what He deserves. But God cannot and will not accept an offering that is anything outside of our first and best. Not even second best. It’s important to keep in mind that this happened 2500 years before the law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The principle described in this passage, called the principle of first fruits, is not based on law. This is a principle that transcends the law from the beginning of time until the end.
The reason God rejected Cain and his offering is simple and profound: someone received Cain’s first and best. Think about it. Cain did have fruit and plants that were his best, and were the first picked, those which were the ripest, sweetest, and most desirable. Someone received those. They surely didn’t go to waste. We know that someone was not God. Most likely it was Cain who kept the best for himself. By doing this, Cain was essentially saying that he was his own god. He declared to God that he was more worthy to receive the first and best, even above God Himself. What a bold and foolish declaration! One thing that God cannot and will not stand for is idolatry. Nothing is able to be elevated to the throne of God. This is the exact reason why the angel Lucifer was cast from heaven. It is why Saul was rejected as King, and also why Cain and his offering were rejected. Pride causes us to rise up in ways we should not, and pride causes us to fall. It is sobering to think that when we refuse to bring God the first and best in our own lives, we are essentially saying that something other than God is more deserving of the first and best. Something else is more worthy of our worship than God. Because that is what worship is at its core. Worship is our response to whatever matters most and holds the highest value to us. By not putting God in that position, by worshipping something else over God, this is idolatry pure and simple, and God will not let it stand.
Let’s be people who leave a legacy of putting God first and bringing Him our first and our best!
This picture lends itself perfectly to a biblical principle which is incredibly important to legacy. It’s not difficult to give God our leftovers. It’s not really much of a sacrifice at all. If we have anything left over after we’ve taken care of our own needs, our bills and urgent expenses, then we’ll gladly give it to someone in need, or to the local church, or to someone who asks for help. But God doesn’t want our leftovers, actually He can’t accept our leftovers. His nature won’t allow Him to accept anything less than the best. God desires our first and our best. He demands our first and our best. And He deserves our first and our best.
In your own household, one of these statements is true. God either gets your first and best, or He doesn’t. Today’s passage from Genesis chapter 4 perfectly shows us this principle. At first reading of this passage, we can almost see God as being unfair in the story of Cain and Abel. After all, both Cain and Abel brought an offering to God. They both sacrificially gave something which had value in order to show honor to God. But God looked with favor on one offering, but on the other God did not look with favor. How can this be? That’s not fair, is it?
It’s only upon closer inspection that we begin to discern the nature of God and the reason one offering was accepted and one was rejected. Abel brought an offering of the fat portions from the firstborn of his flock. But Cain brought an offering of some of the fruits he had collected over the course of time. To simplify, Abel brought an offering of his first and his best, but Cain’s offering was collected and put together from leftovers. One was the first and the best, but the other was the last and the worst. The offerings may look similar on the surface at first glance, but on a deeper spiritual level they could not be more opposite. God will gladly accept the first and the best, because that is who He is and that is what He deserves. But God cannot and will not accept an offering that is anything outside of our first and best. Not even second best. It’s important to keep in mind that this happened 2500 years before the law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The principle described in this passage, called the principle of first fruits, is not based on law. This is a principle that transcends the law from the beginning of time until the end.
The reason God rejected Cain and his offering is simple and profound: someone received Cain’s first and best. Think about it. Cain did have fruit and plants that were his best, and were the first picked, those which were the ripest, sweetest, and most desirable. Someone received those. They surely didn’t go to waste. We know that someone was not God. Most likely it was Cain who kept the best for himself. By doing this, Cain was essentially saying that he was his own god. He declared to God that he was more worthy to receive the first and best, even above God Himself. What a bold and foolish declaration! One thing that God cannot and will not stand for is idolatry. Nothing is able to be elevated to the throne of God. This is the exact reason why the angel Lucifer was cast from heaven. It is why Saul was rejected as King, and also why Cain and his offering were rejected. Pride causes us to rise up in ways we should not, and pride causes us to fall. It is sobering to think that when we refuse to bring God the first and best in our own lives, we are essentially saying that something other than God is more deserving of the first and best. Something else is more worthy of our worship than God. Because that is what worship is at its core. Worship is our response to whatever matters most and holds the highest value to us. By not putting God in that position, by worshipping something else over God, this is idolatry pure and simple, and God will not let it stand.
Let’s be people who leave a legacy of putting God first and bringing Him our first and our best!