7 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.”
Humankind was designed by God to rule over the other inhabitants of the earth. Instead, because of sin and rebellion, the domain of his rule was reduced to the desires inside his heart. What a diminishment of his domain! And the sad thing is that we have difficulty even ruling this small territory. In this text God is speaking to Cain, and Cain is so angry at his own failure that he is getting ready to murder his brother Abel. We don’t know the time that has elapsed between Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden of Eden and this upcoming event. Obviously Cain and Abel are old enough to get into a fight and a murder happens, but other than that we don’t know the timeframe. The picture here is of sin, waiting outside your door like a wild animal, ready to tear you to pieces the moment you step out your door. Sin is always waiting for us and we must resist its pull on our lives. The Lord is warning Cain before he exits on his destructive path that he has the option to not choose sin. He can make another choice that would lead him down a very different path. I think of the soldier who is lonely and decides to go to a local social spot for some companionship. He is there and gets a beer because everyone else has one. Soon the one become four. Then some guy walks up to him and picks a fight and before he knows it, he is outside fighting for his life. And then it happens: in order to save his life, he takes a life. Years of jail time follow. Because he made the choice to find companionship at the bar he ends up in jail serving time. Choices have outcomes. The choices we make today will change our future, in big ways and in small ways. We need to be mindful of our choices knowing that once they are made and acted upon, we can’t take them back.
The Arnold Journey 