A new year has dawned and with it all the uncertainties that accompany a fresh beginning. Will this year bring success or failure? Will this year bring us good health, or will it be a year of immense physical frustration? Will this year finally bring the fulfillment of a long-held dream or will it usher in dashed hopes? It would be incredibly nice if we could answer all of those questions right now so that we could be prepared for whatever may arise, but sadly we are not afforded such capabilities.

 

   However, there are some helpful things we can remember based around the life of Abel that I think will insure a successful navigation of 2019’s unknown waters. One, Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel lived by faith. Faith, by its very nature, is a darkness that we cannot navigate apart from grabbing the hand of the one who can carry us through. If we walk in faith, relying on the providence of God to steer our course, we know that even when the course is choppy, God is in control. So very often, our world is rocked because we rely solely on our capabilities and the visible to carry us through. Such actions do not meet the definition of walking by faith, but instead show us that we walk by sight.

 

   Secondly, Abel’s faith caused him to live a life that was devoted solely to the glory of God. The blood sacrifice that Abel offered in Genesis 4 was an acknowledgment of the sin in his life and his need for forgiveness. Cain failed to offer such a sacrifice, essentially stating that he knew best how to run his life and didn’t need anything from God. Such a course is dangerous and ultimately precipitated Abel’s murder by Cain. When we believe we are self-sufficient and do not need God or simply pay lip service to our need for Him, we place ourselves as the center of the universe instead of God. We deflect proper glory from the Creator to the created. God will never stand for that and we must be constantly on guard to protect ourselves from such mindsets that lead to our ruin.

 

   Finally, let us remember the last words of Hebrews 11:4 that because of Abel’s faith, though he died, he still speaks. It has occurred to me as I have reflected on this line that we all will continue to speak after death, it’s simply a matter of what will we say? Abel’s faith speaks loudly throughout the intervening centuries, as does Cain’s lack of faith. Let us live lives that speak so loudly that we will be for-ever remembered like Abel and Enoch and the assembled cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11. Let our lives be a testament to the glory and goodness of God so that we are obscured by the image of God we present. Truly, if we do this, 2019 will be a year of success as we feast on the bounty of God.

 

Blessings,

Marc