Thursday Reading: Genesis 4 1-15
Key Verse: Genesis 4 7
7 If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at the door; and its desire is for you, and you shall rule over it.
Devotion:
This is not a problem we have in modern society because of all the pressures we have and the social links or breakdowns or whatever… Our wayward ways have been with us from the beginning because Satan has been there tempting us for a very long time. The evil one continues to throw all manner of traps our way that should break us down slowly until we fall into his own pit with him; he is not simply trying to make us fall but to trap us in his eternal hell that he faces. And isn’t that just the same way as we think sometimes? “If I am going to go down for this then I am taking you with me!” is a phrase we often see and even think about.
Cain proved this in the beginning because he was the one who had fallen short of the mark. His first reaction was not to say sorry and to try and make amends but rather to hit out and take down the people closest to him! If we do not control our action then we will face the same dilemma when we get trapped – just as Satan does. When we get trapped we want others to join us because we don’t want to be alone!
What we have to do is a bit of simple forethought! If we have dug a pit for ourselves and can no longer get out of it by ourselves, then the only way that we are going to get out of it is if we get outside help. If we see that help and drag them into the same pit as we are then they will no longer be able to help us out – instead we have now trapped them through our own selfishness. Instead we need to be a bit more patient and wait for that help to come forward. But that help may well not come forward unless we are willing to admit that we have dug ourselves deep with no way out and then ask for some help. God simply wants us to recognise the trap we are in and to ask Him for help. He has everything ready to help us – so long as we do first ask!
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel trapped?
Are you asking for help yet?