The Standard of Perfection
'Eternal One (to Cain): Why are you angry? And why do you look so despondent? Don’t you know that as long as you do what is right, then I accept you? But if you do not do what is right, watch out, because sin is crouching at the door, ready to pounce on you! You must master it before it masters you.' Genesis 4:6-7 (VOICE)
There is the contrast. Good vs evil. Two brothers with nothing in common. The first two humans ever. One, named Abel; the hard worker, a shepherd, the planner, the principled, the dependable, the cheerful, the early riser. He knew the rules and choose to live by them. He choose to get involved. He was the standard of perfection. He had a lot to lose. He stayed God focused, and made right offerings, that were offered in the right spirit and in the acceptable way with faith believing and with blood mingled in.
Then there was Cain, the other one; the under handed, the under achiever, a half hearted worker, never prepared for anything, a grain farmer, the coward, a gambler and a grumbler. He could never quite figure out the rules. He never choose to get involved. He could never get control of his anger. He had a lot to gain if he had tried a little harder. He could never find time for God and only half believed anyway. His sacrifices were not acceptable; no blood, no sweat, no tears and offered with the wrong spirit. Then the complaint.
The lesser. The complainer. The older brother. The unlikely and the unliked of the two approached God with his issues. Really? Complaining again Cain. Oh, woe is me. Why can't I live like Abel? He gets all of the lucky breaks. Nothing is too difficult for him. Why do you treat him so special and ignore me? I work so hard for nothing. God spells it out by not giving up on him and by offering him a word of advice. You are motivated by envy. 'Do what is right' and I will bless you. Don't do what is right and watch out.
Are you jealous of your own brother Cain? Abel is better in every way. Things seem to be going right for him. He is someone to be emulated and trusted. Where does the good come from? Do you think it is easy to be Abel? You could have tried to be more like him. You could have worked a little harder at changing yourself. You could have tried to be a better person. Master sin.
Sadly, the good Godly advice was not taken. Sin enters. Sin is already crouching at the door and ready to pounce and Cain invites it in. Really Cain? Your own brother no less! Jealousy, and that is what it does, sin brings death. The death of us two. Now it's just you. Possessed. Can you even get by on your own? Banished to be a wanderer. Sin master.
You could have mastered it. You could have done things a lot differently. You could have turned to God but you decided to take matters into your own hands and kill the godly influence in your life instead and what did that get you? Did it remove any feelings of rage? Did it make you a better person? Where does the evil come from? Now what to do with this cruel and malevolent behavior and how do you live with yourself and the guilt of what you've done? That sacrifice required blood. The blood of innocence that you required, lead to that one act of murder that changed everything. One evil act destroyed your one good example in life. One evil act left you with nothing but time. Alone.
Source: Biblegateway.com; Biblehub.com; google.com.
Then there was Cain, the other one; the under handed, the under achiever, a half hearted worker, never prepared for anything, a grain farmer, the coward, a gambler and a grumbler. He could never quite figure out the rules. He never choose to get involved. He could never get control of his anger. He had a lot to gain if he had tried a little harder. He could never find time for God and only half believed anyway. His sacrifices were not acceptable; no blood, no sweat, no tears and offered with the wrong spirit. Then the complaint.
The lesser. The complainer. The older brother. The unlikely and the unliked of the two approached God with his issues. Really? Complaining again Cain. Oh, woe is me. Why can't I live like Abel? He gets all of the lucky breaks. Nothing is too difficult for him. Why do you treat him so special and ignore me? I work so hard for nothing. God spells it out by not giving up on him and by offering him a word of advice. You are motivated by envy. 'Do what is right' and I will bless you. Don't do what is right and watch out.
Are you jealous of your own brother Cain? Abel is better in every way. Things seem to be going right for him. He is someone to be emulated and trusted. Where does the good come from? Do you think it is easy to be Abel? You could have tried to be more like him. You could have worked a little harder at changing yourself. You could have tried to be a better person. Master sin.
Sadly, the good Godly advice was not taken. Sin enters. Sin is already crouching at the door and ready to pounce and Cain invites it in. Really Cain? Your own brother no less! Jealousy, and that is what it does, sin brings death. The death of us two. Now it's just you. Possessed. Can you even get by on your own? Banished to be a wanderer. Sin master.
You could have mastered it. You could have done things a lot differently. You could have turned to God but you decided to take matters into your own hands and kill the godly influence in your life instead and what did that get you? Did it remove any feelings of rage? Did it make you a better person? Where does the evil come from? Now what to do with this cruel and malevolent behavior and how do you live with yourself and the guilt of what you've done? That sacrifice required blood. The blood of innocence that you required, lead to that one act of murder that changed everything. One evil act destroyed your one good example in life. One evil act left you with nothing but time. Alone.
Source: Biblegateway.com; Biblehub.com; google.com.
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