Abel the first good steward of God's things

Cain And Abel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In Genesis 4 we are introduced to Adam and Eves first children Cain and Abel.  Now in verse 2 we learn that Cain is a farmer while Abel is a herdsman or shepard.  In verse 4 we see what a good steward Abel is: "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:"

As a good steward of God's things, it is important to be sure that we give back to the Lord the "First Fruits" of our labor.  Just at Abel gave the "firstlings" of his flock and the fat from them.  Abel was the first to Tith to the Lord.  God was pleased with Abels offering as He will be with our own.  I am the first to admit that I am like Cain, giving a little here and a little there, but I do not think of God first or give him the best of my labor.  I pay all the bills, buy the groceries, go to the movies and then drop a few pennies in the basket at church on Sunday.  And I wonder why I am always suffering financially.  

It is time to change.  That is why I am on this quest to become a good steward with what the Lord has given me.  I need to thank him daily, hourly and every minute for all that He has done for me.  I have a home, a job and a wonderful family and friends.  I need to give to Him first on payday and the rest will come. 

God Curses the Serpant

It was at the time of man's first sin that a rift was formed between the animals and man.  No longer would man and animals get along with each other.  In Genesis 3:14 God curses the serpent: "Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life."  

Then to the women He said:  “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children.  Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”  As punishment for her sin Eve would now have a heard time bearing children, she would experience pain and no longer live in harmony with nature.

To the man He said: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.  19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Man would now have to provide for his family and work for his food.  He would no longer have the intimate relationship that he had with God up to the time of eating the "forbidden fruit".

As punishment for their sin they where banished from the Garden of Eden and separated from God by sin.  “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.  24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. 

So right from the beginning man could not obey God.  Right from the beginning we where separated from God.  They only way now to get that personal relationship with God is through the blood of Christ. 

Related articles

• The Garden of Eden
• Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.....

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.....

Genesis 3 begins with the Serpent speaking with Eve, asking if she really believes what God has told them about not eating from the tree of Knowledge.  In verse 3 Eve tells the serpent that God has warned them not to eat from the tree in the middle of the Garden, not even to touch for if they do they would die.  The serpent in verse 4 tells them "You will not certainly die, 
For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  So what do you think Eve does?  Well of course she believes the "Deceiver", Satan, the serpent and she eats from the tree of forbidden fruit.  Of course seeing that it is good she shares it with her husband Adam.  And what happens next?  SEPARATION!

Up until the moment that Adam and Eve had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, they had had a personal relationship with God.  They walked and talked together with God in the Garden of Eden.  After they had eaten the fruit, their eyes where opened and they realized that they where naked.  They felt shame.  They hide from God when He is walking through the garden looking for them.  Along with their sin of disobedience, come lies.  When God asks Adam if he had eaten from the tree of Knowledge, he blames Eve:  "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."  

When God asks Eve what she has done, she blames the serpent for deceiving her.  And so begins the excuse: "The Devil made me do it"!  Adam and Eve lost a lot that day.  They had a personal relationship with God, they could walk with Him and talk with Him, they did not have to work for their food, God provided everything for them.  Now they where cast out of the Garden of Eden and had to work for food and endure the hardships of the land.  

Because of the sin made by Adam and Eve, all future humane beings would miss out on a personal relationship with God.  It became necessary for an ultimate sacrifice, the body and blood of Christ.

And a man will leave his father and mother...

In Genesis 2:24 we learn that a man will leave his family and be united to his wife.  In wake of the Decision made today by our Supreme Court, it seems clear what God feels about DOMA.  In the beginning God created man and woman to be one and to be fruitful and multiply.  It does not matter what our Government feels, our what I feel myself, it is what God feels that is important.  I believe right from the beginning God made us Male and Female to be together.  The script does not say two people shall be joined as one.

The Garden of Eden

Genesis 2:8 it says that "Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, ".  In verse 15 it says God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  It is just as He today puts us in our "Garden of Eden" to take care of it.  He gives us our jobs, homes, families, cars and everything we need to survive.  He expects us to take good care of it. 

I need to learn to take care of my "Garden".  As Americans, I think we take for granted all that we have.  We live in a material world, in a county that was built on consumerism.  We like things, we value ourselves by the things we have, we always want more so that our status will be greater.  But we forget that all we have belongs to the Lord.  He only wants us to be happy, fruitful and to do glorify Him with what he has given us.  We forget that we are born with nothing and we will die with nothing.  The things of this world will stay here.

The Lord God formed the man from the dust...

In Genesis 2 we get the story of Adam and Eve.  In verse 7 is says that "the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the ban became a living being".  WOW!  That says everything, how can we ever doubt God?  He took dust and formed a man and breathed live into it to make a living being.  It is amazing to me.  God made us as his own and loves use so dearly.  Do we not love those that we create?  Our children.  How much more does God love us?

As with Adam, we too are created by God with nothing but the bodies he formed for us.  We live our lives with the things that God gives us to use for His Glory.  What we do with what he gives us shows our love and respect for Him who made us.

I am the first to admit that I am not a good steward with what God has given me.  I need His forgiveness for the way I have mismanaged His things.  I need to learn, and you would think that by now I would have, how to be a good steward with all that God has entrusted me with.  I need to give Him thanks and glory for all he has done in my life.  I am so blessed.  I live in a country where we are free to worship Him, I have a job, I have a home, food on my table, family and friends. How could I ever be anything but thankful?  How can I not want to but all that I have to work for the Lord?  Why do I have my little "Pitty Parties" because I do not have the same as those around me?  I have so much...I should be on my knees daily praising God for SPOILING me.

I think that is the key, we are a spoiled nation.  We expect more and forget to be thankful for what we have been given.  We take it for granted. Well I need to change.  That change needs to come from my heart with the help of the Holy Spirit.  I need to learn to give thanks daily for what God has given me.  I need to remember others around the world that are not spoiled like I am, and share with them what God has given me.  It is Gods after all, He would want me to share with those who do not have as much as I do.

This weeks goal:  Give thanks to God for all that He has given me.  Thank Him daily, hourly, every minute for what He has done in my life.  I must also find a way to share with those who do not have all that I do.

In the begining...

In my quest to become a better steward of what God has blessed me with, I have started at the beginning.  In Genesis.  Genesis 1:26 God decides to create man in "His image so that man may rule over the fish in the sear and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule oover the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

God was making Adam and Eve stewards of his creation, telling them to take good care of it, rule over it as if it where your own. 

Today God still owns creation and He is still telling us to take good care of it as if it was our own.  But there are two points here not to miss:

1. God owns everything - He is renting it to us to use while we are here on earth.  He wants us to take good care of His things.
2. We are the Renters - all we have on this earth is not ours.  It belongs to God, and we need to take care of it.  

When we one day come face to face with God, He is going to say "Well done my faithful servant" or "Why did you not take good care of what I lent to you".  What do you want to hear?

Right now if I where to die, I would be in heaven, but...God would ask me "why did you not take care of all that I lent to you".  I am a bad steward of the things that God have given me to use on this earth.  I am ashamed at how I have neglected to take care of them.  I am now struggling to turn it around and learn to be the steward that God created me to be.

Loving God's Word

DILO 3-21-07 "Words of Jesus" (Photo credit: Old Shoe Woman)

I love God's word and I want to be sure it is written on my heart.  I need to be in the Word daily so that I can lead a Godly life.  But there is one prayer I have, that my brain could memorize verses.  I just do not seem to be able to memorize God's word, or anything for that matter.  When I was 24, I had a ski accident.  I slammed my head on the sloped and bruised my brain.  Since then I do not have a short term memory.  I have trouble remembering words said or read with in seconds of hearing or reading them.

It is going to be my prayer that my brain will heal and I will be able to start memorizing God's Word.  Only God can heal my brain and allow His Word to be written on my heart.

Being a Good Steward with Gods Things

I broke down and ordered the Stewardship Bible, Bible Study Workbook and DVD.  I really need to get serious about learning how to be a good steward with God's things.  I was born with nothing, everything I have was given to me by God to take care of and use, use for His work and glory.  I hope that I will work through the entire Bible study and learn something.

How is the NIV Stewardship Bible?

I have always been a bad steward with what God has given me.  It is not that I do not love God and appreciate everything that God has given me, it is, I think that I am just lazy.  I put off today what can be done tomorrow.  I love God with all of my heart, mind and soul, but I am a BAD, BAD, BAD steward.  I am hoping that the NIV Stewardship Bible will help me.  I will keep you posted.

"For where your treasure is,  there your heart will be also"  Matthew 6:21