Common Sense Reborn

Your Best

³When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. ⁴Abel also brought a gift-the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gifts, ⁵but did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. (Genesis 4:3-5)

Good morning Y’all. I hope you spent yesterday in reflection for all the men and women who sacrificed their lives in servitude for the United States of America. We spent some time in the morning doing an altered version of our Memorial Day tradition. Our tradition in Savannah is to lay roses at gravesites of fallen Veterans, then visit all of Savannah’s many War Memorials, and lay roses on those monuments as well. This year, we are down in Florida, so we visited the Sarasota National Cemetery and paid our respects for two young men who left this world far too soon. Mrs. Z knew both of them. I only knew one, and he had been an associate of mine when I was a manager at Publix Super Markets. Mrs. Z and I make sure we mark every Memorial Day with a reminder of the true cost of freedom, and the weight of the responsibility fighting for that freedom.

The Bible Verses above remind us of the cost and responsibility of our freedom in this world. Cain and Abel offered sacrifices for God, but God only accepted Abel’s offering. Why? It is rather obvious. Cain just gives God “some of his crops”, while Abel gives God “the best portion of his firstborn lambs”. God is obviously a meat-lover.

No, the difference of the two is that Cain gave “some”, while Abel gave his “best”. God does not want you to just spend “some” time with Him. God does not want you to just offer Him “some” sacrifices. God does not want you to just obey “some” of His commandments. God does not want you to just follow “some” of His prophets. God wants you to give Him your best, because He gave His best when He created YOU. He wants the best of your time studying His word. He wants the best of your life living for His purpose. He wants the best of your behavior following His commandments.

Give your best life as a living sacrifice to God and watch Him accept your offering and turn it into something wonderful, powerful, and world-changing.