Most of us, even children, know the story of Cain and Abel. It’s a sad story about the sons of Adam and Eve and their offering of sacrifices to God.

There is no mention of what God commanded Cain and Abel to offer, but it is obvious from the scripture that Cain’s sacrifice did not please God. “And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard” (Genesis 4:4-5 ESV). We know that Cain offered the fruit of the ground (verse 3), and Abel offered the firstborn of his flock (verse 4).

Obviously, there had been some instruction about what they should offer; otherwise, God would not have shown such displeasure with the offering of Cain.

In the book of Hebrews, we find the passage from which our title is taken. “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).

 If Abel is still speaking to us today, what is he saying? I think we can get some clear messages from his offering a sacrifice and then losing his life.

First, Abel gave his best. Nothing is said of Cain offering his best, just that he made an offering of that to which he had access. Because Abel offered his best, God had respect for his offering. He didn’t have respect for Cain’s.

How can we offer our best in our worship to God?

• We should be at worship. We can’t offer our best if we don’t attend.
• We need to remember that worship is about God, not about us.
• We can offer our best by the way we look. We should be modestly and appropriately dressed for worship (First Timothy 2:9-10).
• We can offer our best by preparing our minds for worship. We should not have divisions among us (First Corinthians 11:18-19).
• We should not show partiality to those with whom we worship (James 2:1-5).

Second, Abel worshiped in a way that pleased God. Jesus said, God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).  

• We must have the right attitude and the right heart when we worship.
• We must worship in the way the Bible tells us to worship.

Third, Abel was an example of doing things the right way.

• God had respect for the offering he made (Genesis 4:4).
• The Hebrew writer calls his sacrifice “A more acceptable sacrifice” (Hebrews 11:4).

Fourth, Abel offered his sacrifice in faith. He knew when he offered it that he was offering the proper sacrifice and that God would be pleased.

So when scripture says that Abel still speaks, we can be assured that he is speaking to us of the command to worship, to give our best, to worship in spirit and in truth, and to worship in faith.

Just as God would accept no less from those of old, so He will not accept any less from us today.

Sandra Oliver