Original Entry:
April 28, 2008
McMinnville, OR
But Abel
brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his
offering, Genesis 4:4
By faith
Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man,
when God spoke well of his offerings.
And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. Hebrews 11:4
I didn’t
even know they existed until 1995. I am
almost too embarrassed to admit it but it wasn’t until my Point Sal Buck of
1995 that I learned what and where the tender loin cut was. As Mark Tognazinni Sr. and I processed my
buck he said, assuming I knew, “Now let’s lake the tenders out.”
After my
blank stare he realized what was going through my mind and proceeded to show me
their location inside of the chest cavity and adjacent to the spine of the
buck. To this day I think of Mark every time I sink my teeth into some tasty
portion of the tenders. One of the great
joys I get out of hunting is sharing the venison steaks with others. With great joy I pull out the packaged meat
and explain, as Mark did with me, where the steak came from, what I named the
animal (quirky I know) and how to best prepare it. I must confess, however, that I do not give
away the tenders. As the most “tender”
cut of meat, it nearly melts in your mouth!
No, men,
the tenders are for me!
Fat is
what brings out the taste in meat. The
fatter and the more tender the meat, the better the taste. This is why the younger the animal when
harvested the more tender and tasty the meat.
A big old buck or bull in the rut is usually the toughest meat to eat
even though their antlers are so highly coveted!
Like my
dad always says, “You can’t boil the horns!”
All this
to say that there was really little in the way of comparison between Cain and
Abel’s offerings. Abel’s was better by
far! In my opinion as a fruit consumer, fruit is fruit and a vegetable is a
vegetable. All species being equal, it
is difficult to judge which apple is the best or which squash is the tastiest
unless one is bruised or over ripe.
No wonder, “The
Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering” (Genesis 4:4).
Not only
did Abel have to raise and care for his flock but he had to kill the animals he
raised and probably knew by name. “Come here, “Fluffy this will only hurt for
little while.” Genesis 4:4 tells us
two things about why Abel's offering was better than Cain’s. From Genesis we learn that Abel offered the “firstborn
of his flock” not some old and tough ram, but a young and tender
lamb. He offered God the best eating,
most desirable. He offered God the best, probably the tenders.
Sometimes
Shanna will remind me to not give the family my leftovers, but my best
effort. Not making a comparison to Cain,
Abel clearly offered God his very best and most desirable offering.
Not only
did he offer the best of the best but he cut off the “fat portions”. Can you imagine Abel taking the tender loins
and the loin fillet (back straps) and offering them to God?
I can hear
Adam saying, “Hey, I am tired of round steak! Where are the loin cuts?”
“Uh, I
offered them to God.”
“You did
what! You are grounded!”
Abel
offered God his best animal and the best cut from that animal. He gave God the best sacrifice he could
imagine, which got me wondering, “Have I?”
Better
yet, have you?
