December 2, 2024

Passage Read: Genesis 1-4
Meditation Verses: 4:5-7

Thought

It was God who disdained Cain's offering, not Abel. Cain's problem was with God, and God graciously came to him to draw his attention. Cain had not necessarily done anything wrong at this point, he'd just offered a sacrifice God wasn't interested in. If he responded correctly and made the right adjustments, he would be accepted. All he had to do was offer the right kinds of sacrifices and continue to do what was right, and he would be accepted. But apparently, being accepted by God didn't matter to him. Being shown up by his younger brother, that mattered to Cain. His attention was in the wrong place, so he solved his problem in the worst possible way, which only made things worse.

Application

The same is true for me. If I don't recognize what I've actually done wrong, if I don't take responsibility for what I did, I won't recognize the right way to correct my error. If instead I'm fixated on someone who did get it right, my attention is in the wrong place. I could discover from his actions what is right and what I need to change, or I could be jealous that he was right and I was wrong and go on to respond in a way that just makes things worse. When something goes wrong (or seems to go wrong), I do better to turn my attention to God and see what it is that He desires, and adjust accordingly, if I have in fact missed the mark.