AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?

Genesis 4 tells an interesting story of two brothers. These two brothers one day brought an offering to the Lord.  They had been trained and exposed to the God of their parents. Now they had become adults and knew what it was to have a relationship with God. Each of them had their personal walk with God, but this day it was to be shown in the Presence of the Lord.

They brought an offering before the Lord, none of them came empty handed, yet the Lord knew their hearts towards Him, beyond their offerings.  Each of those offerings cost them, because it was the sweat of their labour. They did not rob to offer to God. But He, who knows all, embraced one fully and the other He did not embrace.

At this point, I asked the Lord, ‘why didn’t You accept Cain’s offering? He replied and said, ‘it’s not about bringing what you have as an offering, but offering to me your first portion and best of what you have. You just can’t present anything to me which stands as a residue and not the best of what you have. If you truly love Me, then I have to be your number one priority. It must be an offering that is pleasing in My sight. It has to cost you. I am not a dumping- ground, where you can just come and present whatever you like’.

Giving of our substance to God is an act of worship that should spring from an attitude of gratitude. He is not hungry, neither is He thirsty; All that He desires from us is to reverence Him in all that we do. We can’t buy Him with our gifts and niceties. We can only present to Him a worthy offering of deep gratitude and appreciation of His unending, undying, unequivocal love to frail humanity.

He sees your gestures. He knows every step that you make. He knows ‘why’ you give and ‘how’ you give. One of the brothers seems to have understood the awesomeness of God, and in reverence adoration and wonder of His work, he chose to offer to the God who looks beyond our faults and sees our need. It is not in the struggling and sweats of our hands and face…He requires a humble heart that is totally dependent on Him.

Cain became engrossed in rage and he could no longer bear his brother being around and decided to kill him. How often do you look at your brother and sister whom the Lord has favored and kill them by your thoughts and words instead of seeking the Lord, to know how they received their gifting and also, allow the Lord to take you through that process. Don’t be quick to walk in rage, and look for opportunities to seek for others’ downfall.

Cain waited for an opportunity for both of them to be at the field where, there was no one and he killed his brother. It was a strategic place. I am sure he had been plotting in his heart, how he would carry out his plan. His brother was clueless to what was going on in his brother’s heart and thought their meeting in the field was to yield positive results.

He never fought his brother, or slandered him. He got killed for his choice to please God with his offering. This tells me, that the enemy can stir up the hearts of your brothers and sisters who are meant to be your keepers, to become your enemy. He can cause them to have a 360 degree turn in their relationships with you, without giving you a prior notice. Cain displayed that to his brother.

Ask yourself this day, ‘Lord am I a pleasing sacrifice to you and is my sacrifice pleasing to you? Heavenly Father show me I pray Thee my heart towards my brothers and sisters’. Don’t assume that you do not need this… ‘The heart man is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things… who can know it. In evaluations as this, you will begin to see things that need to be worked on.

Abel gave back to the God who redeemed man from the fall! He represents that generation of people who KNOW their God by revelatory knowledge not by lip-service. He gave the sacrifice that cost him something…his life.

Cain, on the other hand was ‘marked’ a vagabond for life, probably died in solitary confinement because he allowed the seed of hatred and bitterness to take root and bear fruit in his life. Hatred is poisonous, unlike love, you can tell how and where it will- shattered dreams, wasted life and strong regrets with sometimes, irreversible consequences.

Finally the greatest gift you can ever have is to see your heart filled with God’s love and out of that river you extend it to your brothers and sisters. Cain was not flowing in God’s love, even if he brought an offering to God, and God knew and saw the end before it happened. Be your brother’s keeper by loving and celebrating them daily.