God is First By Faith
Hebrews 11:4 (ESV) By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
Can we put this to rest? Our money says a ton about our hearts. Where we put our treasure, there our heart will be. And right from the beginning of life after the fall, mankind has had an issue with possessions. That we think we actually own anything. That we put God second in our offerings. And then we expect blessings from Him in return. How ridiculous.
Make no mistake, it takes faith to tithe, when you tithe right. That is, you offer it first, you offer your best, and you give to God what is rightly His according to His Word. That's the faith part. Before anything else, God gets the offering that belongs to Him.
Abel still speaks because he put God first. That is the testimony of his faith in action. He bears witness to this day that a life offered first to God gets the best from God. Think of this, Abel was the first dead person. He died before anyone and yet here in Hebrews 11, he is mentioned before anyone as the first righteous person.
The lesson is simple: Better to be dead in righteousness than alive in covetousness.
PRAYER:
Father, I pray we your people will always put you first financially. That we will take steps of faith to give you our best and first. And convict our hearts in this area. May we put you where you are - first in everything. Amen.
I am a amazed at how often people fight the concept of tithing. What does this passage tell us about Abel? He offered a more acceptable sacrifice by faith. How could it be more acceptable if, as some people like to say, it was simply by choice that God accepted his and rejected Cain's? That is utter nonsense. It was accepted because it was sacrificially given from the firstborn of his flocks. Whereas Cain's was offered "in the course of time."
Can we put this to rest? Our money says a ton about our hearts. Where we put our treasure, there our heart will be. And right from the beginning of life after the fall, mankind has had an issue with possessions. That we think we actually own anything. That we put God second in our offerings. And then we expect blessings from Him in return. How ridiculous.
Make no mistake, it takes faith to tithe, when you tithe right. That is, you offer it first, you offer your best, and you give to God what is rightly His according to His Word. That's the faith part. Before anything else, God gets the offering that belongs to Him.
Abel still speaks because he put God first. That is the testimony of his faith in action. He bears witness to this day that a life offered first to God gets the best from God. Think of this, Abel was the first dead person. He died before anyone and yet here in Hebrews 11, he is mentioned before anyone as the first righteous person.
The lesson is simple: Better to be dead in righteousness than alive in covetousness.
PRAYER:
Father, I pray we your people will always put you first financially. That we will take steps of faith to give you our best and first. And convict our hearts in this area. May we put you where you are - first in everything. Amen.
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