OCTOBER 4

Genesis 4:1-9
 
                     ANGRY CAIN

You remember yesterday’s discussion? Cain was the first son of Adam and Eve, in fact the first child in the whole world! What an opportunity to do something for the Lord!

However, we remember him for something much less honorable. You see, his offering to the Lord was rejected by the Lord. Why? Because he did not offer by faith and his offerings were not of the type the Lord required. As the first born, you can imagine his parents would have loved him so much and would have taught him as much as they taught his younger brother, Abel. Abel turned out well, but not Cain. Eventually, we know that Cain even killed Abel, because he was jealous of him. This is just so sad, the first child of the world grew up to be the first murderer of the world.

How did Cain become a murderer? He allowed his evil thoughts to slowly fester, and become worse and worse. Instead of fighting sin, he accommodated it. And what did Cain allow to grow – his anger. Verse 5 tells us he was very wroth – or very furious.

Dear reader, learn not to be like Cain. If you have any anger that is selfish, recognize that it is wrong and you must STOP allowing sin to grow more. Every human being has been angry for the wrong reason. Even little babies get angry for wrong reasons – listen to how some of them wail because they are denied a toy or something they want.

If you’re angry because someone misuse the name of Jesus or God, that’s a different matter. But very often, we’re angry because we think someone is not nice to us, or our pride is hurt, or we just get irritated. Dear child, recognize that anger is usually sin!

Who would you rather be?      

Thought: When was the last time you were angry for wrong reason?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me never to be like Cain, who allowed his anger to worsen and turn into something much more terrible. I confess I’ve been angry for wrong reason, and pray You’d forgive. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.