Faith in Action 2017 05.11.17 | Page 6

THE QUALITY of faith The physical aspect of sacrifice is the element to be sacrificed. In Old Testament times, it was common to offer animals or fruits of the land to God. We see this is in the story of Cain and Abel. The first one offered the firstfruit of the land. Abel, however, brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Bible says that God was pleased with Abel’s offering, but not with Cain’s. Why? Abel’s offering typified the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, when the Lamb of God would be sacrificed for the remission of sins of all humankind. The sacrifice of a vegetal nature was just a simple offering that made no difference to the one who offered it; whilst the sacrifice of an animal nature, where a life was sacrificed, symbolised the sacrifice of God’s Son. It is similar to what the poor widow did. Her example gives an exact picture of the meaning of sacrifice because she, in spite of her poverty, gave everything – all she had to live on! Even though her offering did not represent any meaningful amount of money, still, before the eyes of God, it meant much more than all the other offerings together. This offering includes the physical aspect (the coins) and the spiritual aspect (the faith). First, she manifested a living faith in God, as she believed that He would return it to her multiplied. Next, she gave all she had. She would not have given all she had to live on if she were not absolutely sure that she would be blessed. Therefore, we can conclude that quantity does not always mean quality. A person’s quality of faith is measured