Paying the Price
Paying the Price
Genesis 4:67a
The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.”
Remember when Jesus said that we can’t serve two masters because we’ll love one and hate the other? And remember when Paul contrasted the fruits of the Spirit with the fruits of the flesh? That’s what Cain’s story is all about. It’s not so much a sacrifice of bad fruit but of bad faith. Notice God’s compassion here. He doesn’t let Cain run off without a word of intervention. Effectively, He meets Cain at the crossroads, reaches out His loving hand to draw him back home, and tells him that it’s not too late to turn back. But Cain doesn’t budge from the altar. He won’t budge, because He’s already given bitterness the ropes for his hands and the knife for his neck and the wood for the fire, and death is the only way forward now.
Christian, have you been letting bitterness slip through the door of your heart recently? Shut it out! Master it by the power of Christ. Or you’ll be there on that altar with Cain before you know it.