ESOCS Devotional 26 December 2024 – Beware of Sin
MEMORY VERSE: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Genesis 4:7 KJV
TEXT: GENESIS 4:1–10
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 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.”
8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”
He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
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Sin is predatory. It has a deadly life of its own. It begins in the human heart and, if unchecked, works its way out in thoughts, words and deeds. We see the terrible effects of unchecked sin in the story of Cain and Abel.
We read in our text that when the brothers brought their respective offerings, the Lord had regard for Abel’s sacrifice but not for Cain’s (4:2-4). Abel’s heart was right before God, whereas Cain’s was not. The Lord always desires obedience rather than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22). Cain’s wrong offering reflected his rebellious heart.
If you don’t do well, sin lies at the do: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Genesis 4:7 KJV). God pictures sin as a wild animal ready to pounce. It has a desire for you; it thirsts for your blood. It is your mortal enemy. But you must master it. Just as man was to have dominion over the beasts, so he must now gain dominion over the beast crouching within – indwelling sin.
God is saying, “Deal with your sin. Don’t let it go on, or you will soon find yourself in the grip of a monster you can’t control.” Sin always begins with wrong thoughts. If you let those wrong thoughts go on, they lead to wrong feelings. Wrong feelings lead to wrong words, wrong words to wrong actions, wrong actions to wrong habits. Sin is like an acorn from an oak tree that falls in the forest. If you pick it up immediately, it is easy; even a child can do it. If it has just sprouted, it is still relatively easy to root out. But if you let it alone for very long, it sends down deep roots and grows into a strong tree that requires a lot of work to take out. If unchecked, sin gets a hold in your life, it is a major operation to root it out. So, God is saying, “Deal with your sin now, while it is still in the mental stage. If you let it go on, it will destroy you.”
Some of you may be thinking, “What can I do? I’ve already allowed some sins to take deep root in my life. They’re far past the thought stage; they’re deep-rooted habits. To tear them out now would be as difficult as yanking a tree out of my yard.”
There are two sides to dealing with deep-rooted sin: God’s part and your part. God’s part is to take away the penalty of your sin when you trust in Christ and to give you the Holy Spirit and the Word to produce holiness within you (Ps. 119:11; Rom. 8:1-4). Your part is to walk in dependence on the Holy Spirit and to deal radically with sin: “Pluck out your eye; cut off your hand” that makes you stumble.
- How has following God’s commands helped you to avoid sin in the past?
- Father, set my heart right with you and help me to beware of sin, in Jesus name. Amen.
Further Reading: 2 Chronicles 24:15–22; Acts 6:1–end;7:59–8: 8
ESOCS Devotional 26 December 2024
