KNOCK, KNOCK, Who's there???

Main Scripture: Genesis 4

³ And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. ⁴ Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. ⁶ So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Gen. 4:3-7)

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.         (1 John 3:10)

While the little joke/game of “Knock, knock, Who’s there?” may be fun to play, especially when creative responses are thought up, it is quite a different story when the answer to the question is “SIN” and really unnerving, even frightening if it is ready to pounce on you!

In Genesis 4 we read how Cain willfully disobeys God’s directives concerning offerings to Him. Abel, on the other hand, is shown to obey God implicitly, consequently receiving God’s total approval and acceptance of his offering. Cain’s response to God’s subsequent pronouncement on both offerings was an irrational display of anger and jealousy. With infinite grace and mercy, God proceeds to, not only point out to Cain where he had gone wrong, but also show him a way out of his predicament.

Did Cain take the wise counsel God gave him? Did he repent of his attitude and consequently do well? No, no and no! Sadly, he willfully continued the downward spiral into more and more sin. The sin that was crouching at his door, had finally pounced on him, just as God had predicted. Anger (at God) and jealousy (of his brother) took root in him and produced the fruit of coldblooded murder. Lord, help us …  Notice the progressive nature of unconfessed sin in Cain’s life: Anger à Jealousy à murder à deceit à callousness …… SIN was enthroned and ruling uncontested! Again I say, “Lord, help us”…

Willful disobedience to any of God’s commands will harden our hearts to the point of such callousness, that murder, whether in thought, word or deed, may very well be the first step of many in the downward, out-of-control spiraling of our lives. KNOCK, KNOCK, Who’s there?  Hopefully, the Lord Jesus Christ, because He says:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelations 3:20 NKJV)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJQUwiY_614&feature=related

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