Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering-fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me.
If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,
saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.
– Genesis 4:3-5; 8; 23-26
Devotion
Cain and Abel provide a dramatic picture of broken relationships and contrasting lives. They illustrate both the blessings of faithful worship and the danger of self-willed worship. Their lives stand as an encouragement and a warning to us thousands of years later.
Unfortunately, when humans are left to themselves without God in their lives, people’s morals tend to get worse instead of better. This short story of Adam’s family presents the continuous development of sin as time passes. As time goes on, violence escalates, first with a murder and then a second murder. We see two groups of people beginning to appear: (1) Those who seem indifferent to sin and evil and (2) those who call on the name of the Lord (the descendents of Seth 4:26). Seth was now taking Abel’s place as a leader of a family line of God’s faithful people and Cain’s family line is becoming the line of people indifferent to God.
The Big Question
Are you spending time with God on a daily basis in order to remain faithful to his purposes for your life and to become more like Christ?
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned.