June 25, 2025 | Be God's Family
Abel – Our Ancestor is Faith
Scripture: Hebrews 11:4(NIV)
4 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.
Devotional
One of my hobbies is genealogy – tracing family history. This hobby combines a few of my favorite things – history, puzzles and storytelling. One lesson I’ve learned as I dig through family history and putting those puzzle pieces together is that every individual has a story to tell. No matter how seemingly insignificant. And through these stories, our ancestors leave a legacy for the generations that come after. Hebrews Chapter 11 is sometimes called the “Faith Chapter” as it highlights those from the past who are remembered because of the way their faith was reflected in their life and how they put this faith into action. These individuals have a story to tell and have left a legacy for us. They are our “ancestors in faith”.
Abel is the first individual mentioned in this list of faithful ancestors. He is held up because the gift he offered to God was superior to his brother Cain’s. Abel’s gift was given with faith, a sincere heart and in devotion to God. And he gave from the “fat portions” – the best he had. This contrasted with his brother, Cain, whose offering displeased God. We’re not told exactly why his was displeasing, but we can assume it was because he gave out of obligation and duty, without the same faithful and sincere spirit as his brother Abel. And it was not given out of the best of Cain’s possessions. Was Abel’s offering necessarily better than Cain’s? No, but it was more valuable because of the spirit in which it was given.
But as the saying goes, “no good deed goes unpunished”. Cain was so angry at the rejection of his gift that he took it out on his brother. He lured Abel out into the field and killed him – the first recorded murder in the Bible. Abel could be considered the Bible’s first martyr. His goodness, faithfulness and unselfishness cost him his life. But we’re told in Genesis 4:10 that “(Abel’s) blood cried out from the ground”. Abel was not forgotten – his story of righteousness and faith continues to speak to us through the generations.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Jr., victims of the Holocaust, William Tyndale – these are just a few of the more recent names that remind us of those who lost their lives for a cause. Those who left a legacy of righteousness and faith.
What is your legacy? What will you leave behind for your children, your grandchildren and the generations that follow? May we live our lives in such a way as to leave a legacy for others. To live a life that might point others to Jesus.
Poem
Into Your Hands, Lord
Psalm 31
Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.
Psalm 31:5
Into Your hands, LORD
My spirit I lay
Into Your grasp, LORD
Can none take away
Upon Your altar
I lay down my best
Upon Your promise--
Provision and rest
Taking my cross, LORD
Enduring all strife
Taking Your sacrifice
I gain new life
Here let me offer
My offering of praise
Here, my best sacrifice
To You I raise
