Reading your Bible for today July 11

July 11: Genesis 4:8-13

KJV Key Verse: Genesis 4:8
8 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.

Devotion:
There are few things in this world which rule stronger than evil thoughts, malice and jealousy. Few things will bring people to such rage and bitter feelings that they will go further than they have ever gone and do things they know are wrong. In this case, Cain committed the first murder, just because he was upset with what Abel had done. I say, 'just because' but those feelings of jealousy ran so deep and strong within Cain that he was blinded with rage. But being blinded with rage is still no excuse for doing what he did.

Many times in our lives we will face situations where we are over-taken by our feelings and do acts which we would never otherwise do. At those times we need someone by our side who will be able to jump up and down and shout at us until we realise what we are about to do. Each one of us has the ability to discern when we are doing wrong, but each one of us will be blinded by rage or other feelings just as Cain was.

You may ask just why we are able to get so carried away, why we are able to do such horrible things to others... It all stems from the very first sin in the garden of Eden. We will continue to be born into a sinful world and be surrounded by sin all the time. We learn sin from an early age and we practise it more than we will admit. That sin burns within us until we start to let it control our lives. That sin causes havoc in all of our lives.

We know we sin and yet, just like Cain, we try to bury those sins in what can only be described as shallow graves. There is no way we can cover our sins from God. There is absolutely nothing we can do ourselves which will help ourselves in any way. That is why we need Jesus Christ. He alone is the one who has already paid for our sins we have done and those that we will do. He took on every one of our sins and He alone can present us innocent unto God. We need Him in our lives.

Points to Ponder:
What sins do you try to hide from your parents?

What sins do you try to hide from God?