Cain and Able - First Fruits

Reference: Genesis 4:3-5 (KJV)

I am reading through the King James Version of the Bible this year.  I've spent today pondering Genesis four and I've been working on wrapping my head around the following verses:

3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect...

My first inclination was "whoa nelly",  why God did you not respect both offerings?  I compared passages from various Bible versions and it did not really detail the why but upon looking more closely into verse 3 the difference is in the missing word: "Firstlings".  First.  First Fruit.  First Portion.  However it is stated it all sums up to the fact that Abel brought God his best and Cain just brought.

Upon reading I think of the area's in our lives where we need to provide God our best.  Our time.  Our talent.  Our tithe.  I leap to think and question, how Lord do I obediently earn your respect?  One of the definitions of respect is the condition of being esteemed or honored: to be held in respect.  Another definition is favor or partiality.  I am God's child and I want to be highly favored.  I want to earn his respect too.  I want to be an obedient follower of Christ.  Going back to the thought of do I give God enough of my time so that he has the first portion of the day I ask myself:  Do I spend enough time gleaning from the Word so that I can pick apart the scripture to seek him face to face and do I allow him the time to teach me?  Am I taking time daily to talk to my best friend and invite him into all the rooms of my heart?

I will continue to ponder and append to this posting as I discover more of how to give God the first portion.  This journey through the KJV will bring many pauses as I seek to know God more fully, serve him more diligently as I give him the first fruits of my time, money and talent. Only in this manner will I truly become the woman God created, the woman he respects and the woman he designed to be servant, wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, niece, sister, aunt, cousin and friend.