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Cain and Abel Analogy

 

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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