Did The Devil Make Me Do It?

                If the Devil made me do it then I’m not responsible!
 When reading Genesis we see that God’s first family is in big trouble. There is already jealousy and hatred.  Hatred enough to kill. 

God has always given man a choice. 

We can learn an important lesson from the story of Cain and Abel and how we are the masters of making our own decisions. 

Cain was an agrarian, one who worked the land and Abel was a herdsman raising livestock.  They both brought offerings before the Lord. 

As the story goes, God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s.  You know the story.  (Genesis 4: (2-5)

Because Cain was jealous of his brother, Abel, he lured his brother out into a field where he killed him.  Before this happened, however, the Lord noticed Cain’s sullen attitude and his resentment toward his brother.  He warned Cain about this, saying:

            “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.  (Gen: 4: 6-7) 

In His admonition to Cain, the Lord made it clear that he, Cain, had the ability to overcome the cancer of sin that was growing in his heart.  He told Cain that his choices and his actions would set the stage for whether or not sin would be able to dominate him.  He was letting Cain know that the choice was fully in his hands not some outside force (Satan). Cain was not merely the victim of his sinful nature but had the ability to conquer it! 

We would all do well to heed the Lord’s instruction to Cain.  Every day we each have a choice as to what we will do.  We can listen to the lies of the Adversary,
( aka Satan) or we can listen to the truth of what God tells us. 

An old rabbi once said, “When we first give in to sin it seems as thin and breakable as a spider’s web. But through our continued submission to sin it will eventually become as thick and as strong as a ship’s rope.”

When we “flee” from sin we are strengthened in our connection to God.  It will make it easier to choose what is right and resist temptation when we face our next decision. 

“Am I my brother’s keeper?” didn’t work for Cain, nor his mother, Eve, blaming the serpent.  Just like us, they were both accountable for their actions.  James, the brother of our Master Jeshua/Jesus confirms this by telling us………….

“Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:14-15)

We all have the ability to make either good choices or bad choices.  When we are faced with temptation, we must remember God’s instruction to Cain, “You  must rule over it.” 

                The choice is yours……..The Devil Didn’t Make You Do It!!