Abel's Blood

Sometimes if you sit very still
And listen quietly
There is a shout that can be heard
Throughout eternity

It is the cry of Abel’s blood
Still speaking from the ground
And to a weary mother’s soul
It is a precious sound

For Abel died while serving God,
But not with battle cry
He died because he offered up
A simple sacrifice

A sacrifice that lingers on—
Through flood and years and space
Not valued by its cost or weight
But valued by its faith

And as I wipe clean little hands
For the one-hundredth time
I think of Abel’s sacrifice—
A bracing paradigm

For God does not delight in meat
Or in act of burning
And He does not take pleasure in
My own mundane serving

But if I offer up in faith
Each diaper, dish, or tear
The sound will be so loud that all
Eternity will hear

And sometimes if I’m sitting still
To listen quietly
I hear in awe an echo call—
My King shouts over me

-rev

11/09/10

"By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks." Hebrews 11:4