I spent 20 years of my life living with a Cain mentality. It was only 6 years after being saved that I was able to see the difference in who I was, and who I had become. Here, I have written an evaluation of myself with total transparency. These are things that I believe we ALL deal with at some point in our lives, I pray that as you read this article, you will take the time to evaluate yourself in a judgement free secret place. (2 Corinthians 13:5)
If you’ve read Genesis 4, you may be wondering, as I did “God why wouldn’t you accept Cain’s offering, isn’t just a little enough for you?”
I read it again and for the first time ever, this was no longer “just a bible story” but a parable of the life of a believer… So let’s break it down 2020 style !
Abel acknowledges that all he had came from God, and so he was willing to give God the best of what he had.
Cain on the other hand acknowledged the blessing and only gave God what he thought was appropriate, by human standards. Essentially saying God should be satisfied with what He’s given. Cain totally ignores the fact that everything he had came from God.
If you keep what you have, it will always be what you have, If you give it to God, He is the God, He will multiply it. You will always have enough.
There are 2 types of people in this story… Cains and Abels …
Abels’ account balance was going down, but his blessings were going up.
Cain wanted to reap the same blessings, but have the ‘upper’ hand with God.
Abels are willing to sit in the back until they are called, or they find a ministry to serve in, they are willing to pour into anyone who wants God; even if they have no special title in the church. Abels don’t need a title to serve God.
Cains may not want to go to church because the people play favorites, but are not willing to make time to fellowship, serve in the church or even follow the church online events to be up to date, yet often complain they are missing out.
Abels show up to serve or participate.
Cains show up, only if they are given a title or leadership role.
Abels are willing to accept the word of God, even if it affects their belief system. Abels show up with a heart that is willing to do anything to please God.
Cains are progressive and will make the ultimate decision of “what God accepts”. They will decide which parts of the Bible fits their lifestyle and challenge/ name call anyone who points them to the word of God. Often saying “the Bible was written a long time ago, a lot of it is missing” … While that may be true, these believers have not seen the original but use it as a reference to say that Christ accepts their ideas and ways of life in the “real” bible.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”
(Matthew16:24NLT)
Abels understand they can’t be kingdom and culture minded. One has to outweigh the other. Abels take up their cross and follow God. And when we start to carry the cross that we are trusted to bare, then we don’t have time to be involved in conflict after conflict. In other words, Abels do not prefer fighting flesh and blood, they hold to the understanding that their battle is against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12), and that violence only glorifies the spirit that is causing the violence. But peace glorifies the one who is able to stop the violence.
Cains are willing to give God their problems but not their pride.
They are willing to give God their “Our Father” but not willing to spend time in worship. They are willing to give God their sicknesses but not the unclean lifestyle that brought sickness on them. They are willing to give God their kindness to His people but not willing to give up their curse words. They are willing to give Him their mistakes in exchange for forgiveness, but not willing to give their forgiveness to others. They are willing to wear the cross as a sign of allegiance to Christ, but are not willing to trade it for the symbols that represent their carnal choices. They are willing to ask God for a job, but are not willing to give back 10% for their tithe. They are comfortably Luke warm.
Abels understand that though there are things/people that are close to their heart, If these things don’t please God, they can no longer represent them. Abels understand that one flag is the answer you need, the other is a temporary sense of belonging to a group of people that have the same problem as you.
Remember; the blind man was not brought to Jesus by other blind men. He was taken by people who could see. (John 9) May I encourage you to get out of the zone you fit in, and get around people who dwell in the presence of the One who has called you to be set apart.
Abel was in Love with God. So he gave God all the best things he had. Cain only loved God enough to split the lot with Him.
The question is not ‘Who are we?’ but ‘Who do we want be?’
