Monday, May 26, 2014

By: Rachelle Hitt Bilbo

Comparing to Death

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men...

In Genesis, we find the first account of two siblings-Cain and Abel. These brothers had two very different occupations. Cain was a crop farmer, and Abel was a shepherd. When it came time to bring their offerings to the Lord, we learn in Genesis 4:3-5 that God was more pleased with Abel's offering than Cain's offering.

The Bible says that Abel brought the "BEST of the firstborn lambs from his flock" while Cain brought "SOME of his crops" as a gift to the Lord. God accepted Abel and his gift, but He DID NOT accept Cain and his gift.

Why was that? Does God value shepherds over farmers or does he prefer sheep over crops? Definitely not. He accepted Abel's gift because Abel gave his "BEST" while Cain just gave "SOME." God does not want "SOME" of what we have to offer. He wants and will settle for no less than the "BEST!"

In evaluating your specific purpose, you must be careful not to compare your purpose to the purpose of another. Although we all have different occupations and roles in our various aspects of life, those occupations and roles are not what is most important to God.

The thing that He honors the most is when we bring Him our BEST! Too often, our eyes are fixed on the successes of others, and we miss out on what God wants to do in our lives. Cain responded to his failure with jealousy and anger and killed his brother. However, the root of Cain's problem was not really with Abel. His problem was with himself. If Cain had taken the time to value what God called him to do and if he had brought God his best, God would have been pleased with him as well.

I challenge you to live out each day as today's verse encourages, "WHATEVER you do, work at it with ALL your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."

Dear Lord, Forgive me for times that I have taken my focus off of You and have discredited or minimized Your purpose for my life.

I thank You Jesus for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life.

Reflection: Am I allowing jealousy to determine my purpose?