Genesis 4:1-15
God is the Creator who made all things in heaven and on earth. He created man and let him rule over and subdue everything. God made the Garden of Eden and placed the man in it, giving him the greatest happiness. Just imagine how joyful and grateful Adam would have been! But the devil caused man to eat of the forbidden fruit and to leave the garden (Genesis 3).
After that, Adam’s sons, Cain and Abel tried to recover the relationship with God that had been broken by their father’s sin. In order to recover it, they made sacrifices to Him. God received Abel’s sacrifice, which was fat portions from the first-born of his flocks; but He didn’t receive Abel’s sacrifice, which was some fruit from the soil.
When we meet God, we should know how to approach Him. Even though at that time Abel knew he couldn’t be forgiven for the sin of his father; he knew that the time would come that the Son of God would come to die for the sins of the world - in a similar way to his offering. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for” (Heb 11:1-2).
Abel’s hope and certainty of what he did not see, was Jesus. Whatever we do in our relationship with God, we have to make sure that He would accept it. Jesus told us “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”(John 14:16). Everything we do for God must go through Jesus. There is no way to God other than through Him. The sacrifice that God accepts is the one given with a grateful heart. Abel offered his sacrifice to the Lord with thanksgiving for the blood. He knew and thanked God for the measure of grace given through His Son.
All our thanksgiving should be done remembering His Only Begotten Son’s death on the Cross, and the shedding of His precious blood for the wages of our sin. If you don’t remember the love God provided by His Only Son, He won’t accept your thanksgiving. Likewise, if you pray a lot you may seem to be a good Christian, but God won’t acknowledge you unless you give thanks to Him.
When you pray you should realize that you can pray and live only by the power of God. When you repent you should give thanks for the grace of the Lord who shed His blood for you, and you should be overwhelmed by the work of the blood of Christ Jesus. All our faith lives should be based on thanksgiving (1 Thess 5:16-18).
Thanksgiving is the thing that pleases God the most, so the devil always tries to prevent this. Just as the blood of Jesus is an unforgettable event for us, we should let our thanksgiving be an unforgettable event to God too. Let’s give an offering to God in the same measure as He had poured out His love on us, and let’s show God that we are the people of the blood of Jesus.
