Monday Reading: Hebrews 11:1-4
Key Verse: Hebrews 11:4
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. And by it he, being dead, yet speaks.
Devotion:
Death affects us all in very different ways but there is absolutely no doubt that death will affect us! I’m not talking about your own death because that obviously is a drastic change but the death of someone else; be it a person you know of one that you know of but have not met. When someone dies we look back on their life and what they have done remembering various things and comparing those things with what we have done or what could have happened. When someone dies unexpectedly we often ask why that has happened and look for answers in different ways.
The one thing that we must not forget is that God is the one who is in charge and He will allow people to die at a time chosen by Him. He does this not because He does not care for us but because He does care for us. What could have been a better example to us that Abel’s death? If we had read the words that Abel had offered a good sacrifice by themselves then we may not remember just what a difference the right sacrifice can make. Abel was willing to follow God’s wishes and sacrifice something that God had given him whereas Cain made a sacrifice of what he had made with his own hands.
God wants us to come to Him with the right attitude – He wants us to come to Him and be willing to give up the very things that He gives us in order to please Him. If we are only willing to give Him what we have made then we are withholding our best from Him. There is nothing better that we have than the things that He has given to us. Being willing to give and not expect a return is something else He teaches us but something that we find very difficult to do. He is the one who can give us the strength and the right heart to be able to do His will rather than our own will. Pray to that end.
Points to Ponder:
Do you like giving gifts?
What gifts do you give to God?
