By Example

“It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith” Heb.11:4

I have been in church long enough to know that this issue of faith can be so abstract. Sometimes you even get afraid that maybe you do not have faith or the required amount of faith. Does that happen to you? It is as though everyone else has faith but you. Some people have made it their duty to be the barometer of faith. They tell you, you have hope and not faith, and they have faith. My response to such people is this your faith what has it done for you? Show me the result of your faith and I will show you my faith by my result [by my works]. God wants you and I to produce faith. God wants our lives to produce faith. And the best way we learn is by example. Like the Bible says, the life of Abel serves as an example for us. So over the next few days we will look at examples of faith from five lives in Hebrews 11 and learn from them. So you and I can see this thing called faith and see how simple it is to walk by faith. Walking by faith is actually very natural to us. In fact it is unnatural not to have faith. You need a lot of effort to ‘not have faith’. You need a lot of effort to disbelieve God. You need a lot of proving to prove that there is no God because it is obvious that God exists.

What is Abel’s example? Abel’s example simply is put God first. It is faith to put God first. Some people will argue from today to next year about the principle of first-fruit and whether it is scriptural or not. Yet for those who have decided to put God first by faith through giving first-fruit, their testimonies are mind-blowing. So I say let those who want to argue continue to argue, my own job is to be a practitioner and show you my results. It is only faith that can make you put God first. Does it produce results? Of course, it always does and that is faith. Faith puts God first. The reason Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and Cain’s sacrifice was rejected was because Abel put God first. In the morning what is first to you? What do you do first in the morning when you wake up? God is interested in what you do. In fact God is interested in the order in which you do what you do. When its time to eat what do you do first? God is interested. When you get a new car what do you do first? God is interested in what you do first. When you have a new child what do you do first? God wants to know. When you get a new job what do you do first? God wants to know. Faith is putting God first.

Prayer: Father, I repent today for not putting You first in all things. Today I commit to putting You first and I ask You to help me to be faithful, in Jesus Name.