Choices

 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. – Genesis 4.1-8

It didn’t take long for sin to have an impact of society. Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain was a farmer and Abel a shepherd. They both went about their business and the day came when they were to bring an offering to God.

Sibling rivalry rose to the fore. Able picked out the ‘first fruits,’ the very best of his flocks for a sacrifice. Cain simply brought ‘of the fruit of the ground.’ When they brought them to God He acknowledged that Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable because it was the best he could give and Cain’s was not.

Cain could have easily fixed that. All he had to do was bring back the best of his crops. God even told him that all he had to do was bring an acceptable offering. But he didn’t – he chose to let jealousy reign and he became angry and, when he went to talk to Able, he killed him. Instead of repenting and doing right Cain chose to act on his flesh and the results were disastrous. A whole line of folks who refused to follow God began and its affects carry on to today.

Things haven’t really changed. When faced with our sin today we have two choices. We can repent, get it sorted, and carry on. Or we can stick to our guns and get angry continue to make worse and worse decisions.

Cain and Able are pictures of the only two choices people make today. Are we going to do it God’s way or our way? The answer to that makes all the difference in the world and for eternity.