An acceptable offering

No longer citizens of the Garden, Adam and Eve move on with their lives and soon had two sons.  The first was Cain, and then Abel.

When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd,
while Cain cultivated the ground. 
When it was time for the harvest,
Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 
Abel also brought a gift...
the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock.
The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 
but He did not accept Cain and his gift.
This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.
“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain.
“Why do you look so dejected? 
You will be accepted if you do what is right.
But if you refuse to do what is right,
then watch out!
Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you.
But you must subdue it and be its master.”
Genesis 4:2-7 (NLT)

How were they so different...
Cain from Abel?
Cain brought some of his crops to the Lord.
While Abel brought the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock.  
These were their gifts to God.
A picture of their heart.

God had respect and regard for Abel and his offering.
But for Cain and his offering He had no respect.
And Cain became angry.  So much so, that it is seen in his face.  And God speaks to him, even giving him advice on how to make things right.  For God see's right into Cain's heart.

You will be accepted if you do what is right.
God is longing to accept Cain's gift.  He created Cain.  He loves him and wants him to understand the offering.  But Cain's heart is filling with anger, with jealousy toward his younger brother... and toward God.

But if you refuse to do what is right, 
then watch out! 
Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. 
But you must subdue it and be its master.

And the same advice holds true for us today.
God created us.  He loves us and wants us to understand Him.  He is not complicated or asking too much.  He is simply wanting the first part of our heart, rather than the leftovers.  He is not asking us to sacrifice all of everything we have.

But He knows that our hearts are not perfect either.  For He gave us this great ability to feel... He gave us emotions so that we were not simply robots walking around following orders.  We get a choice... but choices come with a cost.  And sometimes those choices we lean into... the ones we we allow to control us by emotion, can cause us harm.

That harm comes as a temptation to sin.  And as God warns Cain, that sin is often crouching at the door.  It can be a jealousy, or some hurt from the past, an anger, bitterness, or a frustration that builds and is ready to blow.

But even though most of us are keenly aware of our weakness to sin, what we may not realize, is that He has also given us the power to subdue it.  Just as He did not make us robots who walk around following orders from God, we are also not robots who have to march around following orders from our emotions to sin.

We are not beings defined by unruly emotion.  We do have a choice, and do not have to act out wrongly and let sin take over.  God tells us plainly through Cain, that He has given us the power to be the master over it.

Unfortunately for Cain, the warning was not enough.
For in the very next verse, he kills his brother in the field.  And soon he is fully separated from God.

Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord...
Genesis 4:16 (ESV)

What a tragic way to begin a relationship with God.
A tragic way to end it.
And for many people, that's exactly how it is.
They try God on for size, think He's just this big thumb who wants to squash all the fun, and when they don't get their way... when they don't understand His way, His rules, His standards... they walk away from Him.
How very sad.

God is so much more.
But if He is to be the faithful God, One upon whom we can depend...
He must first and foremost be a God of truth.
And truth will always require the definition of black and white.
And the world we live in seems to want so much to be gray.

You will be accepted if you do what is right.
But if you refuse to do what is right,
then watch out!
Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you.
But you must subdue it and be its master.
You and I have a choice.
To do well...
when sin lies at the door.
It's desire is for you,
it's desire is for me.
But God wants us to rule over it.
He wants us to master it.

​Word of God... train me, today...
Lord, I can not count on achieving this in my own strength,
but only in the strength that You have placed inside of me.
Lord, Your word says...
But you belong to God, my dear children.
You have already won a victory...
because the Spirit who lives in you is greater
that the spirit that lives in the world.
1 John 4:4 (NLT)

Lord, help me today to rule over the sin that lies at the door.
The temptation too become angry, to unleash, to give in.
Give me the strength, Lord, in Your power and overcome...
to master it.