March 5

“And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering.” Genesis 4:4

Cain was a farmer and cultivated the soil. That was what his father had done in Eden. When Adam tilled the land there, we may conclude that he brought the produce of the earth and offered it to God. But now Cain was outside the garden of Eden because of sin. Nevertheless he tilled the soil as before, he received the produce as before, and he offered it to God as before. God not only refused to accept his offering, but also rejected him.

What man did before he sinned was acceptable to God, but nothing can be worse in God’s eyes than for man to do the former things as though he had not sinned. Cain was just like this. He continued to offer things to God as though nothing had happened. To commit sin is bad enough, but not to be conscious of it is more serious. Abel, however, was accepted because he acknowledged that a change had taken place. His offering admitted that he had sinned and that the shedding of blood was needed to satisfy God.