The Offering God Accepts

Yesterday our family read the passage which spoke of Cain and Abel and their offerings to God.  Cain was a tiller of the ground, and Abel was a keeper of sheep.  These are both useful and worthy occupations, providing great benefits for man and beast.  Out of the bounty God provided them these men chose to present an offering before the LORD.  Until this point in the Bible there had been no mention of offerings and no clear command from God what would be acceptable.

Genesis 4:3-5 reads, "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. ⁴ Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell."  When I heard this passage discussed in my youth there was great emphasis placed on the different offerings themselves.  I have come to believe the offering itself was not as significant as the heart in the man who brought the offering.  God was not hating on Cain's fruit, nor was he partial to an offering from the flock.  God had respect unto Abel's offering because He had received faithful Abel.  The word "respect" is also translated "look."  The rejection of Cain's offering simply confirmed His rejection of Cain.

Cain was furious his sacrifice had not been looked upon favourably or received, and God graciously spoke to him.  He warned Cain that sin crouched at the door, for God knew well the bitterness and murder which percolated in him.  Cain shrugged off the words of the Almighty God, and the next thing we read is Cain killed his brother Abel in the field.  I am certain that if Cain chose to repent and humble himself after God spoke with Him, I believe his offering of firstfruits would have been received.  But because his heart was stubborn, proud, and selfish, God would receive nothing from Cain's hand.  Trees are known by their fruit, and the murder of Abel was clear outward evidence of a sinful heart only God could see before sin was fully grown.

This connection between our hearts and the offering God accepts in seen in Isaiah 66:1-2:  "Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? ² For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist," says the LORD. "But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word."  God looks for people who have broken, contrite hearts.  He searches hearts and minds to see who regards and looks to His Word.  If we will not regard Him, why should He look upon our offering or sacrifice with thanks?  Our faith is accounted to us as righteousness, and it is he who has clean hands and a pure heart who shall ascend to the LORD and stand in His holy place (Ps. 24:3-5).

This passage shows God does not receive all sacrifices, praises, or prayers offered Him.  He looks upon the heart, and it is the heart which humbly opens to Him where He will dwell.  Jesus said to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:20:  "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."  Jesus has offered Himself for us so we can have fellowship with one another.  Those who look to Him in faith demonstrated by obedience Jesus knows and will receive, and according to His grace their offerings are acceptable in His sight.  Until our hearts are His and purified what will He receive from our hand?

The Book of Praise

I have been reading through books by A.W. Tozer recently and one thing he strongly recommended was the benefit of old hymnals.  He asserted hymns of old were packed with solid theology and were indispensable in private worship.  I thought about what he said and realised among my books I didn't have a hymnal.  So I checked out a website based in Australia which sells rare or out of print books and came across The Book of Praise, selections of English hymn writers by Roundell Palmer in 1867.  When I opened it I discovered the very first hymn is notable among my all-time favourites:  "How Great Thou Art" by Bishop Reginald Heber penned in 1827.

One of the first things I do when I buy a used book is as I flip through to fix all dog-eared pages.  The book is not in the best condition, but it undoubtedly will be a great tool and blessing in drawing near to God.  In the heart of every child of God there is a longing to draw near to the LORD in prayer and praise, and though no substitute for scripture good books can be useful to facilitate this.  May the books we read mark our lives with praise of God!  As I smoothed out the largest dog-ear, I read through a song I will share with you by Charlotte Elliott, written in 1834.  On pages 346-347 it is simply titled, "CCCXXVIII" or "328":

With tearful eyes I look around;

Life seems a dark and stormy sea;

Yet midst the gloom I hear a sound, 

A heavenly whisper, Come to Me!

It tells me of a place of rest;

It tells me where my soul may flee:

Oh! to the weary, faint, opprest,

How sweet the bidding, Come to Me!

When the poor heart with anguish learns

That earthly props resign'd must be,

And from each broken cistern turns,

It hears the accents, Come to Me!

When against sin I strive in vain, 

And cannot from its yoke get free,

Sinking beneath the heavy chain,

The words arrest me, Come to Me!

When nature shudders, loth to part

From all I love, enjoy, and see;

When a faint chill steals o'er my heart,

A sweet voice utters, Come to Me!

Come, for all else must fail and die;

Earth is no resting place for thee;

Heavenward direct thy weeping eye;

I am thy Portion; Come to Me!

O voice of mercy, voice of love!

In conflict, grief and agony,

Support me, cheer me from above, 

And gently whisper, Come to me!

Love Is Patient

While I was doing yardwork today I saw an older man wearing an Akubra approaching.  I had seen this man walking around on the streets near our home other times before.  I would see him lingering around plants, and once he was crawling around looking for something on the ground.  As I swept, he walked up and introduced himself.

He was a soft-spoken man with a friendly, toothy smile.  He wanted to see if I would grant him permission to pluck five small flowers from the bush near the street on my property as had been his custom for many years (unknown to me!).  Apparently the neighbour had told him to move on.  "But she does not own the plant because it is on your property," he said.  "I've no problem with you taking flowers from the bush."  I wasn't planning on using them, and if he had already been doing it what harm would it do?  "I use them for prayers."  Now I wasn't expecting this, a foreign idea to my western mind.

After a pause I asked, "Who do you pray to?"  "I pray to Rama...I'm a Hindu."  Continuing to smile he introduced himself formally, and we shook hands.  "Good to meet you Ben.  I live right around the corner," he said as we parted ways.  The encounter had solved the mystery of what the gentleman had been doing whilst loitering around.  He wasn't loitering:  he was carefully, meticulously gathering flowers to offer to a deity in prayer.  I look forward to meeting up with him again with the aim of speaking of my God and Saviour.

Now I don't know much about Hinduism, but I know devotion when I see it.  From a biblical and Christian perspective I know there is one God, the Creator of this world filled with trees, stones, seas, flowers, animals, and people.  This nice old man from down the street was gathering flowers created by my God to offer to his god, one of many deities served by Hindus.  Strange that Rama would receive a re-purposed gift!  My God does not require an offering of flowers to hear and respond to prayers, and my allegiance ought to be greater than this man - for I know whom I worship, and He knows me.  I grieve that a man would expend such effort to seek the blessings of images and demons who can only destroy and cannot save, but I also rejoice in the opportunity God has provided to share the reality of the Almighty seen in Jesus Christ.

"Land is patient," a mate of mine told me yesterday.  This is true.  God's love is also patient.  There may have been a time in my life I would have blurted out something about my superior God in reply, but I am learning the importance of valuing other people first rather instigating a conversation only to give a message.  The message I have of the Gospel is greater than any man, but it is a message to be delivered according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  I trust God will provide me the opportunity to sow the good seed of God's Word, learn something from my neighbour, and perhaps make a friend or even better - a brother in Christ along the way.

God Puts Up

God is patient and longsuffering.  As God who is omnipotent and almighty He does not need to endure pains or the folly of men, but He chooses to do so because of His loving character.  Kings of earth can easily pass unpleasant tasks to their many servants.  It seems the more power or authority one possesses the less patient he or she needs to be, but God expresses the exact opposite.

Consider the gracious love which prompted God not only to bring the nation of Israel out of Egypt but to endure them in the wilderness after they rebelled against Him.  Paul said in Acts 13:17-18, "The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. ¹⁸ Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness."  And what were the ways of the sons of Israel?  Let's see:  murmuring, complaining, disobedience, idolatry, rebellion, falsely accusing God of wanting to kill them when He sought to save them, and much more.

Before we judge the Israelites harshly, we must recognise we are in no way superior.  These folks were no worse sinners than we are!  The takeaway from Paul's words should not be to nod approvingly in judgment of sinners but to rejoice in the gracious salvation of our God.  We are no prize, yet God has reached out to us whilst mired in sin.  He has long endured our ways and continues to entreat us kindly and provide for all our needs - even when we have been thankless and ungrateful.  How great is the LORD and worthy to be praised!

Having received such grace and love from God, may we be moved to love one another.  We are exhorted in Romans 13:8, "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law."  Having been adopted, forgiven, reconciled, redeemed, and accepted by God's grace, we owe others a continual dose of the infinite love God has lavished upon us.  No one is worthy of such love and grace, yet we have freely received it through faith in Jesus.  God loves us when we were yet sinners, so clearly this love should not be restricted only to the redeemed or who we deem worthy.  If people must be worthy, where then is grace?  Let us be patient as our LORD is patient towards us.

There is an old saying:  "Put your money where your mouth is."  Basically, this infers if we believe something to be true, we should take action to back it up.  "Put up or shut up," another line goes.  The way God "put up" with His people conveyed the love He had for them.  He did not merely tolerate them but He provided for their needs and guided them in the right way.  He spoke with them, protected them, and ultimately sent Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of all who believe.  If we are indeed children of God, it's time to love people we have been avoiding.  It's time to pray for people who have ill-treated us.  It's time to bless those who have cursed us.  Let's show grace to others according to the grace we have received from God.