Reflections of a Believer
As I was reading in Genesis, a verse stuck out to me. The verse was Genesis 4:7, God speaking to Cain says, “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 4:7 NIV
I love this verse. It goes to the very character of God. See, although God is a loving father that wishes no one should perish(2 Peter 3:9), He also will not deprive us of our free will.
So, God knowing all that will happen gives Cain this warning in Genesis 4:7. He warns him that sin is waiting to consume him and that he must make a choice to rule over it.
So, what does Cain do? In Genesis 4:8, Cain allows the sin to consume him and he murders his brother Able.
Now, this is a pretty extreme example of where sin can lead. Truthfully, many times when “sin is crouching at your door” it is not in the form of a jealous rage that will end in murder.
No, many times the sin that will consume us is much more subtle than murder. It is a sin that slowly disconnects us from God. It can be complacency, strife, or any number of other sins that wedge themselves between you and God.
The Bible tells us, “For God does not show favoritism.” Romans 2:11 NIV Just as God gave Cain a warning, and tried to lead him down a better path, He too will put in front of your checks in your spirit to protect you from a sin that threatens to consume you.
I for one can vividly remember times in my life where I had that Holy Spirit check telling me what I was doing was not right. Unfortunately, at times just like Cain, I ignored the Holy Spirit and did it my way. Only to find out that my way was much harder and lead to the heartache that could have been avoided.
The truth is, God puts these checks in our Spirit(should this spirit be capitalized?) so that we can avoid pain and disappointment. Just like with Cain, God will try to keep us from making decisions that change the course of our lives and lead to distraction or despair.
So, today, like Cain, we have a choice. We can choose to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and avoid the heartache that comes when we live a life disconnected from God. Or, we can follow in Cain’s footsteps and do life the way we want, ignoring the Holy Spirit’s warnings and allow sin to crouch at our door.
As for me, I choose to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
What do you choose?
Father,
We humbly come to You and pray that You forgive us for the times that we have ignored Your leading. We pray that You fill us with Your Spirit and help us to heed Your advice. Make yourself so real to us that we cannot deny Your very presence. Amen
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