Isaiah 26-27
Philippians 2
“Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’” Genesis 4:6-7
When we do something wrong, it is important to repent. If we do not, like God’s warning to Cain in the opening verse of this devotion, “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you....” The latter part of the phrase is a Hebrew word often used to describe a lion tensing every muscle, ready to pounce on its prey. In other words, sin is a predator.
The interaction between God and Cain begs us to ask ourselves, how do we respond to God’s love when it comes in the form of discipline? How do we respond when God says “no” to us or puts a boundary in our life? How do we respond when God questions the choices that we are making? How do we respond when God comes and confronts us about the displeasure that we have with Him? One of the signs of sin’s dominion taking root in our life is that we are downcast and disgruntled towards God’s activity in our lives, an inward disposition of frustration when God disciplines us.
We have to understand that Cain’s refusal of God’s invitation back into favour was not a neutral decision; it was loaded with consequences. To say “no” to God’s plan for a holy and healthy relationship is to say “yes” to sin’s dominion in our life. When we hold onto our anger and our self-justification as to why God is unreasonable, sin will feast on that as Genesis 4:8 tells us: “Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.”
Cain’s anger towards God was taken out on his brother; he killed the one whom God’s favour rested on. When sin is successful in ruling our hearts, we often want to murder the ideal that reminds us that we are outside His favour because we cannot stand to be in the presence of the righteous when sin starts to take root in our life.
What we can learn from Cain’s response to God, after God does not look on his offering with favour, is that sin will be drawn to our displeasure with God and feed on it like a racoon feeding on garbage. But sin is not a cute little racoon feasting on our garbage; sin is a lion that devours the purpose that we were created for and seeks to destroy the image bearing likeness that we were intended to reflect. Sin is a predator that crouches and sneaks up in the darkness to feast on our indignation.
Almighty God, I do not want to give sin any foothold in my life. I welcome Your righteous discipline so that I may live in a manner that pleases You. Thank You, Lord.
Philippians 2
“Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’” Genesis 4:6-7
When we do something wrong, it is important to repent. If we do not, like God’s warning to Cain in the opening verse of this devotion, “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you....” The latter part of the phrase is a Hebrew word often used to describe a lion tensing every muscle, ready to pounce on its prey. In other words, sin is a predator.
The interaction between God and Cain begs us to ask ourselves, how do we respond to God’s love when it comes in the form of discipline? How do we respond when God says “no” to us or puts a boundary in our life? How do we respond when God questions the choices that we are making? How do we respond when God comes and confronts us about the displeasure that we have with Him? One of the signs of sin’s dominion taking root in our life is that we are downcast and disgruntled towards God’s activity in our lives, an inward disposition of frustration when God disciplines us.
We have to understand that Cain’s refusal of God’s invitation back into favour was not a neutral decision; it was loaded with consequences. To say “no” to God’s plan for a holy and healthy relationship is to say “yes” to sin’s dominion in our life. When we hold onto our anger and our self-justification as to why God is unreasonable, sin will feast on that as Genesis 4:8 tells us: “Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.”
Cain’s anger towards God was taken out on his brother; he killed the one whom God’s favour rested on. When sin is successful in ruling our hearts, we often want to murder the ideal that reminds us that we are outside His favour because we cannot stand to be in the presence of the righteous when sin starts to take root in our life.
What we can learn from Cain’s response to God, after God does not look on his offering with favour, is that sin will be drawn to our displeasure with God and feed on it like a racoon feeding on garbage. But sin is not a cute little racoon feasting on our garbage; sin is a lion that devours the purpose that we were created for and seeks to destroy the image bearing likeness that we were intended to reflect. Sin is a predator that crouches and sneaks up in the darkness to feast on our indignation.
Almighty God, I do not want to give sin any foothold in my life. I welcome Your righteous discipline so that I may live in a manner that pleases You. Thank You, Lord.
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