The the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It’s desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

You ever get angry and think about doing something that you know is wrong? When we do this as Christians, we usually get that little red flag or some type of warning. It’s sort of like when a storm is coming and the weather channel issues a warning. God usually gives us some type of little warning. It may come in the form of our conscience bothering us.

In our scripture passage today, God is speaking directly to Cain, literally laying it out for him. Cain had a heart condition. His heart was in the wrong place. When he made his offering to God, God rejected the offering for this reason. Abel’s heart was right with God. He offered God the first and the best he had to offer, so of course God accepted his offering. Cain got mad when God rejected his offering and this is why God asked him why he was mad and why he was frowning. Now, of course, God knew why, but he’s giving Cain a chance to repent here. He even goes so far as to tell him that if he gets right with Him, he will be accepted. God wants our obedience more than our offering (1 Samuel 15:22). God encouraged Cain to get his heart right. He goes on to warn Cain that sin is right there trying to get in. He tells him that sin wants to control him, but he must get control over sin. But, Cain didn’t listen. He ignored God’s warning and went out and murdered his brother because of his jealousy and anger.

Now it’s easy to look at this and say, “Wow! If God Himself came to me and warned me, I would have turned things around and gotten right with God.” But, be careful before you say that because God warns us over and over in His word and yet we don’t listen. By not listening, I mean, we don’t stop and take time to read our Bibles. God shows us throughout the Old Testament those who are obedient and faithful and are rewarded, but those who sin pay a hefty price. In the New Testament, Jesus shows us how to live our lives and encourages us not to sin. But, we just don’t listen.

We don’t have time to read the Bible. We are all just too busy. We consider ourselves way too busy to read the Bible. So taking time to study it is way too time consuming

Well, Cain didn’t take time to stop and think about God’s warning. He let sin take control over him and he paid the price. Cain had been a farmer, but God told him he would never be able to get anything he planted to grow again. He told him he would spend the rest of his days as a wanderer and a fugitive.

If you are reading this saying, “I wish God had warned me,” before you made whatever big mistake you made, well he probably did. If you think back, you might have had misgivings or that feeling in the pit of your stomach telling you to stop. But perhaps you just didn’t listen. Perhaps like Cain, you thought you had things under control.

If you want to avoid making huge mistakes, keep Proverbs 3:5-6 in mind. Love the Lord with all your heart and consider Him in all you do. This means we pray before we act. This means we adhere to Psalm 46:10 and take time to be still and know that He is God. Some versions say, “Stop your fighting and know that I am God.” If only Cain had taken time to stop his fighting against Abel, but he didn’t.

The end result is that we have the first murder recorded in the Bible.

If you are feeling hurt, jealous or angry, let it go and give it over to God. Stop your plotting. Drop down and read your Bible. Let God speak to your heart through His words. Pray and give it all over to Him. This can help us to avoid sin which can have devastating consequences.

If we catch on fire, we are told to stop, drop and roll. To avoid spending eternity in a fiery hell, we need to remember to stop, drop and pray before we sin.

Have a great day!