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The fourth chapter of Genesis introduces the events that followed the fall of man. Because man fell, the acts of wickedness multiply.
Adam and Eve bore two sons, Cain and Abel; Cain worked the soil, and Abel kept the flocks.
Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord from their produce.
Abel’s gift was described as a fat portion, and the firstborn was not necessarily the yardstick for his acceptance.
God accepted the persons, hence the approval of their gifts.
Likewise, God did not accept Cain, hence his offering
God, however, cautioned Cain and advised him to do what was right with his life, and then he would be acceptable, else sin would overtake him
Unfortunately, Cain allowed sin. He lured his brother to the field and killed him, and evil continued to multiply
Apostle Paul in the first eighteen verses of the ninth chapter of 1st Corinthians, narrates how he gave up his rights of receiving from the churches.
First, the believers in Corinth are the proof of Apostle Paul’s apostleship because they belong to the Lord because of him.
As an Apostle, he (Paul) has the right to free accommodation, free meals, and to bring along a Christian wife.
On the contrary, Paul and Barnabas have worked to support themselves, as opposed to laws and principles.
Soldiers should not pay their expenses, farmers should not be deprived of eating from their produce, and shepherds should not be disallowed to drink milk from their flock.
Paul explains that “do not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain” speaks to man, not animals.
The one who plows and threshes the grain should get a share of the harvest.
Paul, who planted spiritual seed among the people, though entitled to physical food and drink, gave it up to avoid obstacles to the Gospel.