“And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:7
The infamous story of Cain and Abel is marked by this warning from God to Cain before he murders his brother. He says that sin is lying in wait to attack, to rule over you and enslave you to it. He tells Cain that he must rule over the sin that is trying to destroy him.
Cain unfortunately does not listen to the warning.
Thankfully, we can learn from this.
God has given us valuable information from this short word of warning. We know that sin is waiting for us, looking for an opportunity to make its attack. It’s a real threat, and it’s one that we must always be aware of. However, it’s not all so bleak. God says that we may rule over our sin. Not only that we may, but that we must. We have the power to rule over our sin, it’s our choice. But if we let it, sin’s desire is to rule over us. Satan wants not just to use us for evil, but to own us, to enslave us.
The stakes are high.
We must be encouraged by God’s words to Cain. God has given us the ability to choose, he has given us the free will to walk light instead of darkness. Only we must be aware of the times that we’re vulnerable. We can’t let Satan find us in our weak moments, crouching in the shadows waiting to pounce. We must be on our guard against sin, and so rule over it.
God is not going to leave you to fight alone. In fact, he already finished the fight through Jesus. He defeated sin once and for all on the cross. Satan still lurks, waiting to strike at the right moment, but we know that even if we fall to our sin, we have redemption through Jesus. However, we must remember that Satan isn’t looking to just make us stumble, he’s looking to make us fall. To knock us down, and then to keep us down. We can’t allow sin to rule over us. We must rule over it. With Jesus, we can, and we do.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the warnings that we can learn from in scripture. Thank you that we don’t have to make all of the mistakes that those of the past have made, we can learn from their lives. Let us learn from Cain, not to let ourselves be ruled over by our sin, but instead to rule over it with your help.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
