Best and First

Talking about money at church can be almost as bad as talking about politics at Thanksgiving. Unlike politics, however, money is a necessary conversation because offerings are so frequently mentioned in the Bible. One cannot simply ignore how frequently God addresses the subject. He does so because how we bring our offerings reveals where we are in our relationship with Him.

Almost immediately, we find money mentioned in Scripture and it is tied to worship. Genesis 4:3-5 (NLT) says, “When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift.” Obviously, when Cain and Abel brought their offerings, they did not use money in the same sense as modern society. Their currency was the actual product of their work; fruit from their trees, vegetables from their gardens, animals from their livestock, and so on.

In this story there are two things to notice. First, Cain and Abel brought gifts to worship the Lord, and second, even though they both brought good gifts, only Abel’s gift was accepted.

To the first point, when Cain and Abel brought their gifts to worship it was both the first mention of worship and the first mention of giving an offering to the Lord. From this point in Scripture, giving and worship are connected. However, we also see that only Abel’s gift was received as acceptable worship. In this, we see that some offerings are received as worship, but not all. This leads us to the question, why was Abel’s offering accepted and Cain’s not?

The Bible doesn’t say why God rejected Cain’s offering, but we can deduct from the Bible’s description of his offering that it wasn’t his first or his best. We can make this assumption because we are told this of Abel’s offering. As the writer says, Abel gave “the best portions of his firstborn.” To that end, we should ask ourselves of our own giving, is it our best and our first? And we should ask this question because giving an offering isn’t the point. The point is that we would give an offering that God receives as worship.

We find this theme of best and first in the New Testament as well. Mark, in his gospel, wrote that “Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.’” (Mark 12:41-44 NLT)

Jesus was watching and judging their gifts. He said that the rich were giving out of their extras, not their first or their best. On the other hand, the widow, who was notably poor, gave more than them all because her gifts were judged as being her first and best. Jesus said she gave everything.

Back to my opening question – what do you give? Is it your first and your best? To be sure, one person’s first and best is not the same as the next person’s. We’re all different and we should not compare ourselves to others. Nevertheless, how we bring our gifts to the Lord should be with the same spirit as Abel and the poor widow – our first and our best.

Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop.

But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.

You must each decide in your heart how much to give.

And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure.

For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (NLT)