Sunday 15 Jul 2012

Sunday Reading: Genesis 4:6-8

Key Verse: Genesis 4:7
7  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.

Devotion:
I is interesting to discuss with others how different roles are played out in families that have more than one child; to see what role each of the children play in the family. All families are different and they make up their own hierarchy which they then tend to stick with for a long time, each of the members of the family fulfilling the role they have grown accustomed to. Our first family on earth had no role models to follow other than each other’s, God and of course, Satan; so when we try to understand what was going on we often get bogged down in thinking that they should have done one thing or another because we have seen it all before… They had not…

So even though we may think of them as being able to seek out God so openly we do forget that they also had much to worry about with temptation in their way. There was not the temptation of following peers because there were so few to follow, but temptation was there because we see how Cain took Abel’s life. It may have been the first time anyone had killed another person, but they were not strangers to killing for food and for sacrifice – so it was that temptation to start something new or to do something because you think it is good enough instead of doing what you know should be done.

In our family roles we all choose to do things and to do it our own way. That way may well be to follow on from someone else’s example or to go and start something new; but we are still making a choice. Each of us may look up to others in the family or may even look down at others because we think they may not be doing what they should be or what they had promised to do. But we should always examine ourselves first of all before going off and telling others about their shortcomings because we need to make sure that we are right with God before blaming others.

Jesus often raised that point by bringing people to the point where they had to think of their own faults before judging others. Now, with hindsight, we can turn round to Cain and say that he should have taken a bit of time to think about what he was doing; but it is hindsight. When we are there at the front of the line and we are faced with the choices, how are we choosing? What direction do we run off in? Are we giving in to those hidden temptations to start our own ways?

Points to Ponder:
Do you like being told what is right?

Do you like following God’s Commandments?