Verse of the Day


"Then the Lord said to Cain 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.'"

~Genesis 4:6-7


Today's Devotional Thought

August 22, 2011 by Wendy Foreman



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Do What is Right

"I was angry dad, that's why I did what I did!"

This is the statement my husband heard from my son Friday night after something got ruined in his bedroom. After hearing that, my husband decided to show my son in the Bible what happened when a brother got mad and killed his brother. It was done out of anger and today's verse is God talking to Cain about killing his brother Abel. He is getting ready to ask Cain about what he has done but Cain is claiming he doesn't know where Abel is and God responds with asking Cain about his anger.

God's interaction with Cain is very simple. If you do what is right you will be accepted and if you don't then sin is crouching at your door and it is going to devour you.

How do we know what is right?

Seems like a silly question at first. But think about it. Where do we learn right from wrong?

Most of us would say that we learned right from wrong in our home growing up. I grew up in a Christian home and so I knew right from wrong very early on and it lined up with scripture. A lot of you reading this may have learned through studying the Bible and hearing what God has to say. God's word is very clear on what is right and what is wrong. We MUST read it, believe it, and live it (all of it). If you do that God tells us that we will be accepted.

My son is a great kid. Friday night when he got angry it was because his dad beat him at a video game they were playing. My son hates to lose, especially to his dad. Before thinking he did something really crazy and immediately knew he had made the wrong choice.

Is that a reflection of our parenting? Some of you are thinking, "Absolutely!" Let me remind you that we are all born with a sin nature and sometimes we react in ways that we can't even explain. And, when we get caught, we immediately start thinking of ways to explain our way out. Cain was angry and acted out of it because he offered a sacrifice to God and God refused it because it wasn't the best that he could have offered. Abel brought his very best to God and God was honored through it. Cain didn't do what was right. Cain knew to only bring his best to God and he quite simply hadn't done that.

What about us?

Do you give your best to God? This could mean so many different things. It could mean do we give our talents to God and use them for Him? Do we give God our tithe? Do we offer our best behavior to others?

Friends, the bottom line is this: if we do what is right, what scripture teaches, then we will be accepted. If we don't and we fight with God and argue with Him, sin is crouching at our door and it will devour us.

Today I want you to take away from this devotional at least this one thing: Do what is right. I know it sounds very simple and you may think almost too simple. Try it today. Stop before you make any decisions, before you respond to anyone and ask God to help you do and say what is right.


Memorize this verse today:

"Then the Lord said to Cain 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.'"
~Genesis 4:6-7



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