“The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” ” (Genesis 4:6–7, ESV)
Here we see God as the first biblical counselor. We can learn much from both from how God counseled and what he counseled. Four observations about his method:
- God saw Cain’s heart and showed it to him
- God pointed out the cause of Cain’s problem: he didn’t have a cause to be angry. The cause of rejection was himself, not God, not Abel
- God lovingly laid out the right course of action
- God warned him of the disaster that awaited him if he failed to repent.
Applying it to our lives: Is there some sin that is crouching at your door? Is there sin that you know is wrong and yet you do it again and again and again! And by tolerating sin, do you realize that you are setting yourself up for more sin (anger—murder; bitterness leads to all sorts of sin; pride leads to other sin)
