Augustine Okoruwa
November 22, 2020
YOUR THANKSGIVING TO GOD
YOUR THANKSGIVING TO GOD;
LIKE ABEL OR CAIN?
BIBLE TEXT: GENESIS 4: 1-12
MINISTERING:
DR. A.E. OKORUWA (CHURCH SECRETARY)
DATE: 22ND NOVEMBER, 2020.
Introduction:
We have every reason to thank God in our lives always. We are alive and only the living has this privilege on this side of heaven to do annual Thanksgiving. In giving thanksgiving unto God this year, let us sincerely think and recognise His hand in our lives. I believe you received blessings from God this year, 2020 and previously.If you think well, you will be amazed at how many blessings you truly have received from God. Can you not see evidence of what God has done for you or one of your family members? Now let us show our gratitude through a befitting thanksgiving to God.
The Thanksgiving of Cain And Abel
1. Their names were different with different meanings and were of the same parents.
I am sure they both were trained same way, but their life outcomes depended on their individual or personal choices they made. We attend the same Assemblies of God Church and receive the same teaching from the same man of God. It is our own choice on how and with what we want to thank God.
2. Both Cain and Abel separated a Day for Thanksgiving unto God, but it was not performed in the same way. In 2020, a particular Sunday has been reserved for your family. Think about how you will do your thanksgiving to God.
3. Their profession did not matter but both of them recognised that it was good to thank God with what He has blessed them with. All of us are not doing the same work or business but we are do thanksgiving unto God according to our capacity and ability.
A. Cain was a farmer, a tiller of the ground
(Gen 4:2)
B. Abel was a keeper of sheep
(Gen 4:2)
4. Both Cain and Abel brought their Thanksgiving Offering to God on the appointed day (Gen 4:3-4)
* Cain just took of the fruit of the land arbitrarily without considering its value and quality; and he did not really ponder or consider the importance that this gift was meant to thank God.
* Abel took of the first-lings and of the fat – this was the best that he had received from the Lord – he also considered to whom the offering was being given and that God deserves the best as the giver.
5. God blessed Abel, and Cain was unhappy and became discontented. Cain then plotted and killed his brother Abel and he received a curse from God. When you give what you know is right to God with a pure heart you will not be offended. Cain should have been challenged to do better but he became angry against his brother. Be challenged to do better rather than gossip and complain and sin against God.
Conclusion:
Are you going to behave like Cain or like Abel in your 2020 Thanksgiving?
The choice is yours. Do not follow the example of Cain. Be an Abel in this year’s Thanksgiving.
God bless you…