Sunday 5 Feb 2017

February 5: Genesis 4:3-8

Key Verse: Genesis 4:5
but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

Devotion:
We can all relate to an instance of jealousy, but just how far we carry that jealousy will depend entirely on the instance and not our thoughts right now. Jealousy is one thing we do not have much control over, for when it hits, we go with the flow... Jealousy can be the one thing which will bring down great men and women when nothing else seems to phase them. When we see the account of Cain's jealousy we may well think how he acted in a very harsh manner, but when we are in the thick of it then we only think we acted a little bit out of character. Jealousy is the greatest of blinders that we have!

We may well think jealousy is something which is all alone and nothing else leads to it, but when we start to dig deeper, we find we have jealous feelings because of pride or because of greed or because of an extreme desire for something. It is always aimed at someone else – which is the greatest problem. If it were aimed at ourselves, we may not look at it as such a problem, but because it will always affect others, we need to know about it and know how to get out of it! Each of those sources all stem from a single self-worth assumption. We each of us have a level to which we think we live and to which we think we should attain or aim for. If anyone else shows signs of getting there first or stopping us from getting there, jealousy strikes!

Cain showed a proud but doubting heart. He gathered what he had done and placed it before God. Able obeyed God and gave his proper sacrifice. Cain did not see the rules as being immovable; he wanted to show how good he was at farming by giving what he thought was best rather than the simple gift God required. If we are not going to heed God's commandments, then we will fall into sin and we will allow it to rule our lives. By knowing God's will and allowing Him to rule our lives, we submit to our creator and that submission can help us keep us away from sin.

Points to Ponder:
Do you look out at others possessions with jealous feelings?

God should be sufficient. Why allow anything else to fool us?