_THE GIVER'S HAND_
GENESIS iv. 3-15.
Cain and Abel both brought an offering unto the Lord, but one was accepted
and the other rejected. It is the giver who determines the worth or the
worthlessness of the gift. God looks not at the gift, but at the hand that
brings it. "Your hands are full of blood!" "Your hands are unclean!" The
Lord demands "clean hands." He will not have our compliments if there is
defilement behind them. Our courtesies are rejected if iniquity attends
them. The shining gloss on the linen is an offence if the dirt looks
through! Who cares for food if presented by unclean hands? "Be ye clean,
ye that bear the vessels of the Lord!"
Every gift is welcome to the Lord if offered with clean hands. A mite, or
a cup of cold water, or our daily labour, or the first-fruits of garden or
field--all receive the blessing of our God if the hands that bring them
are free from defilement. So is it with everything we offer to the Lord. A
song of praise makes sweet music in the hearing of our God if it come from
pure lips! Purity, as Thomas a' Kempis says, gives the wings which carry
everything into the Father's presence.