DEVOTIONAL
Cain, the first born of Adam, had a heart set on rebellion. He refused the instructions of his father and sought to enter into the presence of The Lord with a heart filled with pride. Even though sin had separated him from The Creator, The Lord, with great mercy, made provisions for him to enter back into a relationship with him. But the sins of his father and mother would prove to have devastating effects upon the heart of this young man, as it did the entire human race. For the scriptures tell us, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Yes it is true, every part of our human nature has been contaminated with sin. In some way, form, or fashion, as we live out our lives here upon this earth, even as believers, we will always be defiant against His holiness. I believe Charles Spurgeon was correct when he quoted one of his sermons, “Remember that the man who truly repents is never satisfied with his own repentance. We can no more repent perfectly than we can live perfectly. However pure our tears, there will always be some dirt in them: there will be something to be repented of even in our best repentance.”
Cain allowed the deceitfulness of his heart to rival the authority of The Lord. He refused to offer a blood sacrifice for his sins as his younger brother Abel did, for as it is written, “without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness for sins.” This blood sacrifice was to teach him the treachery of his own sin as he would watch an animal die in his place, pointing to God’s plan of redemption; in which God himself would one day enter into humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, becoming the substitutionary atonement, dying in the place of man. In just a short time within the human race sin was progressively becoming darker. Cain’s heart was filled with bitterness, hatred, and jealousy. The Lord come to him and said, “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.” Cain did not heed the warning of the Lord. He refused to listen, so sin tightened the chains of bondage around him, and instead of mastering sin, it became his master. He fueled his passion with murderous thoughts and lured his brother Abel into a field and murdered him. Cain’s pride, prejudice, and unbelief caused him to be marked as a murderer and be a vagrant to wander upon the earth separated from the saving grace of his Creator.
Today, will you harken to the word of the Lord? Will you repent of your sins and come to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? Will you receive His great mercy by faith and be forgiven of your sins? Surely you will not set eternity aside and dare to tread the grave alone, only hoping that The Bible is wrong, will you? Come now, let us reason together for just a moment. We will agree that Jesus is the most preeminent figure in all of human history, that there has been more debate about who He is than any other person on the face of this planet, and that He is the central figure in a nation called Israel. This man Jesus proclaimed to be God, who do you say He is, for in this one question alone lies the answer to all of eternity. May you not be like Cain and harden your heart against Him, allowing the sins of this world to enamor you, blinding your eyes with its deceitfulness, until the day you wake up in eternal destruction?
“So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.” Genesis 4:3 NASBS