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Today while studying about Cain and Abel,
I could not help but think of the differences between
the two, and the similarities that we all have with this
story of two brothers. We all have opportunities to
learn and grow and hopefully with the right teaching we
will make the right decisions.
God had a relationship with both Cain and
Abel. God spoke with them routinely. God told them to
make a sacrifice to Him with detailed instruction so
they would know how to make a sacrifice that would be
pleasing to Him. God told them that the sacrifice
should be a blood sacrifice (a sacrifice that would
represent the supreme sacrifice) that would take the
place for the sin that separated them from God.
Cain grew crops and toiled the land,
while Abel took care of the animals. Cain brought God a
sacrifice from the toil of his hand; he brought him a
sacrifice that represented the work of his flesh, the
sweat, and labor of his well doing. God was not pleased
with this sacrifice, not because it represented the
personal sacrifice of the first fruits of Cain’s labor,
but because it was not what God told him. Cain tried to
bring God a sacrifice and to please God through his own
understanding and through a way that he thought
would please God. He wanted God to just be pleased
with what he thought was a great representation of what
symbolized him and his goodness.
(Isaiah 64:6) “But we are all as an
unclean thing and all our righteousness are as filthy
rags and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities,
like the wind, have taken us away.”
I can see this same struggle not only in
my own life but also in the lives of others as they
struggle wanting to be noticed for their good works.
Carefully consider the following in your own life and
determine which direction you walk. Are good works
accepted even if it is in the realm of disobedience?
What if it is a good thing and a thing we would consider
as a wonderful spontaneous thing that would be pleasing,
but we were told not to do it. Would it be okay?
In the Old Testament in the book of 2
Samuel, we find that God had told David to bring the Ark
to the city, and David built a new cart to carry the
ark. Only God’s anointed were allowed to touch the Ark
of God and no one else was to touch it. As the Ark of
God was being moved one of the oxen that were carrying
the Ark shook, and the Ark looked as if it would fall to
the ground. Knowing you shouldn’t touch the Ark and it
might fall to the ground, what would you have done?
(2 Samuel 6:6,7) “And when they came to
Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to
the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook
it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah;
and God smote him there for his error; and there he died
by the ark of God.”
It is easier to judge someone else than
for us to judge ourselves. Should doing a good thing
always be rewarded with good? At times we all have done
things we knew we should not do, but we did it because
we thought it would be okay and we would be accepted for
doing it and used the line “It is okay because…..” Now
after learning a few things I would give that thought
another run around the mountain before I chose to do
something because I can justify doing a wrong that I
know is a wrong.
The truth is that sometimes we have
trouble teaching and training our children in this area
of life. When my children were small. I remember times
when their mother or I would put them in bed early so we
could spend time together before going to bed
ourselves. Our children would take turns getting out of
bed after they were told not to get out of bed. “You are
supposed to be in bed!” the child would reply, “But I
wanted to give you a hug and kiss goodnight.” What am I
going to do? Should I accept the hug and kiss? Or,
Should I train them to obey under all circumstances and
by so doing reject the hug and kiss? Well, of course
any young soft hearted parent not possessing a lot of
experience and insight that their parents or their
grandparents would probably end up allowing the child to
give the hug and kiss and then return to bed. I was
such a parent to allow this hole to temporarily develop
in the disciplinary teachings of my children but only
for the sweet and kind things my kids were willing to do
as they were finding assuredness and security.
We daily train our children by the words
of our mouths and the life choices, the actions, we
make. Consider this thought for a moment--Is it okay to
teach our children that as long as it is sweet or kind
it is allowable to disobey a few times before it is
considered bad or wrong? I know and understand a few
things after I have had this opportunity of growth and
with a little age and now with my children in their teen
years that allowing a loophole to be created in their
make-up will only cause problems for them later in their
lives. In today’s society, we allow and permit and
think that maybe this one time we could let the rules
slip because “I am tired,” “my child is a teen and they
know right from wrong”, or “I will just give them a
chance this time.” If we are going to teach and train
our children, we should teach and train them in the way
they should go and grow so we can be assured ourselves
that if we are going to be pleasing let’s be pleasing to
the Lord first.
Let us determine today to live a life
that is pleasing to God. Let us choose today to be
consistent with our teaching and training so that our
children will not have fuzzy lines, but His Word will
bring light to their understanding so when they are
deciding if something is right or wrong they will know
right from wrong. If we need to shout in a time of
emergency, “Get out of the way,” they will not turn to
us and say, “What for?” Remember that life on this
earth depends on them trusting us. If we are consistent
in our lives and in what we say to them, they trust us
more.
In the New Testament Hebrews 11:4 we read
that “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain
by which he obtained witness that he was Righteous, God
testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” It is recorded that by faith Abel offered
this sacrifice to God because he believed God that one
day our redeemer would arrive and remit our sins so we
could be made righteous through faith in Jesus. Abel
believed God; he trusted God and he obeyed God. Through
trust and obedience, Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by
God and is a continual witness that still tells us that
we receive the righteousness of Christ through faith and
obedience. Abel found favor with God.
Meditate on a true solution for your
life. Always remember that God accepts our gifts and
offerings, but we need to bring them to him in the
proper manner with the proper attitude of heart, so that
the blessings of God will come to us and bring the
blessings and honor to us and our gifts.
“Heavenly Father, we humbly come before
You to ask You for guidance and grace in our lives as we
choose this day whom we will serve and to help us each
day as we train our children not only with our words but
with our actions. I pray that we will be strengthened
with your ability. I pray that as we learn to lean and
depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in all
truth that we will learn that we are becoming a people
of obedience to Your will; for Your word tells us that
obedience is better than sacrifice.
choose today to be obedient to you
in all my ways. Thank you, Father, for Your will
and Your Word being made available to me so I know that
as the blood of Jesus cleanses me from sin that Your
Word makes my thoughts clear and cleanses my mind and
helps me make right decisions. Thank you, Father,
for the performance of Your Word in my life. In
the name of Jesus Christ we give you thanks.
Amen."
.......Freddy Roark
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