“By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.” Hebrews 11:4
It’s really interesting to me that the very first person who gets mentioned in above passage from Hebrews is Abel, one of Adam and Eve’s sons. What did Abel do that caused him to be included alongside Moses and Abraham and other significant biblical heroes in the 11th chapter of Hebrews? As far as we know, Abel never did anything great. He never took any major risks. But he gave an offering in ‘faith’, and that pleased God. It’s not what Abel gave; it’s how he gave it. Abel gave with an attitude of faith.
Last week, I gave the larger portion of the tithe from my soybean harvest to Trinity HOPE. I can tell you this morning that giving and faith go together. God couldn’t care less about the amount you give. God doesn’t need your money. He wants your heart. In fact, if you’re not giving in faith, don’t bother to write that check. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6; “Without faith it is impossible to please God”.
There are two ways to give; you can give by reason, or you can give by revelation. To give by reason is to sit down, look at the numbers, and figure out reasonably what you think it makes sense to give. But that approach doesn’t require any faith at all. On the other hand, when you give by revelation, you let God reveal to you what he wants you to give in faith. You stop and take time to pray, asking, “God, how much do you want me to trust you for this time?” Then you do whatever he tells you to do; you are at peace with the amount. This is the kind of giving that stretches your faith because it’s not necessarily reasonable. It’s giving based on revelation.
When you give in faith, you give with joy. And, as a result of your joyous, faithful giving, you grow and ultimately become more like Christ!
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay