“And it came to pass after some days that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth as an offering to God” (Gen. 4:3). There are two charges against the self-lover: one that he made his thank-offering to God “after some days,” instead of at once; the other that he offered of the fruits and not of the earliest fruits, or in a single word the first-fruits. Let us examine each of the charges, taking first that which is first in order. Our good deeds should be done in the spirit of eagerness to anticipate the call, and with slackness and hesitation put right away; and the best of deeds is to do without delay the pleasure of the Primal Good. And therefore it is commanded “if thou vowest a vow, delay not to pay it” (Deut. 23:21). Now the vow is a request of good things from God, and this commandment bids him, whose hopes have been fulfilled, to give the crown of honour to God and not to himself, and to give that crown, if it may be, without delay or loss of time. Those who fail in this fall into three classes. The first are those who through forgetfulness of their blessings have lost that great treasure, the spirit of thankfulness. The second are those who through overweening pride think that they themselves have caused the good things which have fallen to them, and not He who is the true cause. But there is also a third class who are guilty of an error less blameworthy than these last, but more so than the first named. They accept the Ruling Mind as the cause of the good, yet they say that these good things are their natural inheritance. They claim that they are prudent, courageous, temperate, and just, and are therefore in the sight of God counted worthy of His favours.
On the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain 13
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