And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. (Heb. 11:4)
Expanded Passage: Hebrews 11:2-4
George MacDonald died when C. S. Lewis was seven years old. Though the two never met, Lewis called MacDonald his “master.” By reading MacDonald’s works, Lewis was nourished both in his understanding of excellent writing but also in his faith. I have considered Lewis to be one of my “masters,” as his writings have deeply impacted my own faith. I better understand God’s love, spiritual warfare, grief, and apologetics because Lewis used his gifts to glorify God. When we live lives of faith and obedience to God, we leave behind a legacy that can nourish the faith of others long after we are gone.
God gave Abel gifts of healthy flocks. Abel used those gifts to glorify God, giving his very best as an offering. He was not trying to show off or become a martyr. Abel did not expect to die at an early age and at his brother’s hands. All we know of Abel exists in a scant nine verses and yet his testimony of responding to God’s great love with the best that he could give has lived on for thousands of years, not because of how he died, but because of how he lived.
How can you respond to God’s great love today? It doesn’t have to be extravagant or dramatic. By simply giving God your best today, you may be inspiring others to do the same.
Offer God your best, whatever that looks like in your vocation.
Aaron Wilkinson is an ordained minister in The Wesleyan Church and Chair of the Department of Business and Economics at Huntington University.
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
