An Act of Obedience
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 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…
Genesis 4:1-4 (NIV)

The first thing we read about Cain and Abel is that Abel kept flocks and Cain worked soil. The very next thing we read about them is that both of them gave to God from the flock and from the field—they both gave offerings to God.

It forces you to focus on how early in Scripture we see obedience and love for God being demonstrated in the giving of offerings to the Lord. Before Scripture ever tells us about building an altar, before Scripture introduces us to the construction of a temple, before Scripture gives us liturgy that shapes Israel’s worship, there is the offering of firstfruits to the Lord resulting from labor.

It sets undeniable expectations regarding how God interacts with us. Cain and Abel must have been taught that God gets your first and God gets your best. The question then becomes, where did they learn this from? Where did Adam and Eve learn what they, in turn, taught Cain and Abel? They apparently learned it from God. God taught them that offerings ought to be given.

We see the fruit of their teaching and how the whole offering expectation reveals the condition of the human heart and spirit—the love, or absence of love, one has for God, the duty and devotion that is to be an undeniable part of living in relationship with the God who creates and sustains. Humans did not create giving. This is not a human-created construct. The expectation connected to spiritual growth, the demonstration of love for God, the exercise of spiritual discipline—this was God’s idea.

God determined that one of the ways you grow in Him, relate to Him, and demonstrate love and gratitude is to give. Stop letting people make you afraid to engage the connection between how you love God and how you give. Don’t let people make you unnerved when it comes to loving Jesus and it being reflected in how you even think about money. Scripture teaches that even before we are introduced to a percentage of giving or the regularity of giving or the generosity connected to our giving, we are introduced to the fact that it ought to be out of our first, and it ought to be our best.