Week 1: Cain and Abel. Genesis 4:1-6 and Moses 5:16-41.

Cain’s offering of fruit was not accepted for several reasons. Cain loved Satan and had not given the offering in faith. At the time it was required to give the shedding of blood for redemption and Cain did not offer that. He followed the counsel of Satan and did not abide by God’s laws. God requires your very best offering and Cain did not have the faith to offer that. We as members of the church can give acceptable offering to the Lord by giving our very best to the Lord with our hearts full of sincerity and faith. We must repent and go unto the Lord in humility and faith. If we give an offering with an attitude of anger or “if I have to” it will be unacceptable to the Lord. We are commanded to pay a full tithe of 10% of our income. It is unacceptable to the Lord to give anything less. I think our attitude has a lot to do with our offerings and if they accepted as well. We must push all selfishness away and do things with 100% faith and sincerity.

“Where is Abel thy brother?” (Genesis 4-8). I think the Lord could ask us this question about many different people, whether family, friends, or strangers. We are a church of service and love and reaching out toward others. What does it say about ourselves if we pass by the man on the side of the road half dead as in the well know story of the good Samaritan. After the man in the story helps him the Lord says, “Go and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:37) Part of our responsibility here on earth is to help and lift one another. Bear one another’s burdens and be there for each other. It is the only way to get through this earth life.

Cain loved Satan. After his offering was not accepted by the Lord he began to confer with Satan even more which led to Abel’s murder. Among his sinful acts were: was wroth unto the Lord, had not faith, selfishness, killed Abel, rejected God’s counsel, secret combinations with Satan, gloried in wickedness.

Cain and Abel teach us that we have the freedom to choose good over evil. We are blessed with that agency. We can choose whom we will serve and what kind of life we want because of that choice.

Cain was punished by the Lord by being shut out from the presence of the Lord. He was cursed and would not be able to bring forth fruit from the ground. Cain thought this punishment was more than he could bear. I think Cain struggled to accept God’s punishment because his heart was too hard and full of hate. I think part of him knew what he had done wrong and that God was right in being just but Cain was so far from God in his heart that he could not accept the punishment.