Genesis 4:1-7 “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. 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: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”

Text Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.”

When we come to Genesis 4, we discover that both Abel and Cain brought a sacrifice unto the Lord! While they both brought something, the Bible said, And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering” (Genesis 4:4). When God looked at what Abel brought He gazed at it with respect; He looked upon it in amazement. We might say that God smiled when He gazed upon the gift of Abel. Why didn’t God feel the same way about the gift of Cain? While there are a great many theological answers to that question; the most direct and most simple is; “It wasn’t what God wanted.” What we have witnessed in the offerings of Cain and Abel is being lived out in the present. Many are trying to give God what they want, with only a few giving God what He wants! Paul said in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you . . . present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” God wants all of you! While that may not be what God receives from you; that’s what God wants from you! You may be like Cain; trying to give God a substitute for what He really wants. Speaking to the saints at Corinth, Paul said, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Cor. 6:20). You can place before God, self or a substitute; only one is what He wanted! Offer yourself to God, that’s what He wants and that’s what He paid for!