So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground
Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;
but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.
Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
“If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
So we begin the tale of Cain and Abel. It is familiar, but I have never considered verse 7.
First of all, God asks Cain why he is angry. I wonder if He can't comprehend it because it is conceived in sin, or he just wants Cain to consider it for himself. Either way, he noticed that Cain was not happy with things.
Because he was not doing well, God says that sin is crouching at the door. He basically tells Cain not to nurse his feelings of "ugliness" so to speak lest he give sin an opening to the door of his heart. God is warning Cain not to give in, but to master himself and not allow sin to get in.
How did I miss this? I always felt a bit angry that God didn't accept Cain's gift myself. Asked, why not? I didn't dwell on it, of course, but I was a bit tripped up by it. But, when people tell this little story, they don't talk about verse 7 where God says "Hey Cain, if you keep allowing yourself to think like that, you are going to give too much power to sin, it's waiting to devour you". God warned him and Cain ignored the warning.
One more observation. (This is to help myself improve my parenting skills) God didn't remind him over and over that he was giving in too much to sinful thinking. He just stated it and let Cain do with it what he was going to do. Which, sadly was not listen. Again, I see more of myself than I would ever want to admit in Cain and not Abel. Not that I would kill my brother, but sometimes I don't listen the first time God says "Hey Tamela, if you keep down that path, don't put that game down, don't stop yelling, you will be giving sin too much power in your life." How many times do I ignore God's warning. Too many.
Lord, please help me to listen for Your still, small voice leading me and guiding me, teaching me and warning me when I am headed down the path of destruction. Thank You for loving me enough to warn me, and loving me even when I ignore You and do the wrong thing. Thank You for Your mercy and Your grace that abounds. Thank You for Jesus who paid my price for sin. I could never have paid the debt, I could never have made it. My righteousness is as filthy rags, Yours is all that matters.
In Jesus Name
amen
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