What is good? What is the path of goodness? How can we know? How can we judge? One man would say that it is all relative, another would say it is absolute. I am a black and white type, either it's good or bad. However, one thing that is certain, if I set myself up as judge of what is good or bad, I am not in alignment with God. I know this simply because I do it all the time. I judge people, things, my actions, and I sense that I have left the covering. How can the Holy Spirit of God, the life force that guides me, the being that comforts me in the darkness that is this world, draw near to another judge beside the Father? Impossible! There is only one absolutely perfect arbiter. Only one with enough knowledge to judge correctly every time. Only one with enough LOVE to make perfect decisions. And it is not me.
Today I looked up the word lift, because I feel down. The week has been hard on my faith, swirling emptiness has tried to capture me, and things seem to just drift by. I can hear the accuser, questioning God's promise for my life. But my heart is unable to agree. I live, I breathe, I have a chance to serve the creator of the universe. How can anything in this world compare with that? Even so, there is struggle to get through the day, to find the strength to make solid choices regardless of how I feel. Which leads to the wonderful verse Genesis 4:6 where God has come to speak with Cain, to reach out to him and bring redemption. We know that Cain rejected the council, and went on to kill his brother. This message is for us! You will do only two things in the body of Christ, whether you intend it or not. Do not be ignorant! Not seeing makes no difference, the outcome of one choice will bring life, the other death.
It is your brother in the Lord who will receive from you, either a blessing or a curse. It is what proceeds from your heart, the words you speak, that will build up or tear down. This is how we were designed, part of the holy plan. We are to be vulnerable, to yield ourselves up to God, so He can form us into a dwelling place. In that vulnerability is the building, the strengthening, the miraculous interweaving that makes us more than just another congregation. This is the highest existence in Him, to be crafted into His own sanctuary.
So where does Cain come in? Well in the NAS the verse reads like this: "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."
Many times I have read this and thought about how to master sin. Or how it wants to master me. These two concepts are easy to grasp, because that seems to be my experience at times. Things I do that fall outside of life, these pull at me, enticing more involvement. They try to gain a foothold over me and rule. Other things, habits or desires, they are obviously there to be mastered, to exercise my spirit and will against. This is what I face all the time, part of my walk with God. And He is able to lead me, fill me, and guide me to make the right choices. Likewise, He made the ultimate sacrifice so I could be restored to Him when I choose incorrectly.
Yet there is more in this verse, something marvellous. The word translated "good" or "well" here has the idea in the primitive root of "sound" and "beautiful". To be pleasing, meaning to bring pleasure, at times means to make a beautiful sound. Even to speak good things. When the Lord ask Cain "If you do well ...", is this not in context with what was acceptable to God? Even the sacrifice that Abel brought? Can we envision that Abel offered up his sacrifice with thanksgiving? That he let come out of his heart beautiful sounds that were pleasing to the Lord? Now this is not a re-interpretation of what the verse means. I just sense that in context, to do good is to thank God. And in thanking God, we will experience a lifting up. A swelling in our hearts, a glowing countenance.
Yet if envy and jealousy temp us, and we speak such, the result is death. Death comes to our brother. Cain did not physically die immediately, he let disobedience rule him, and his actions led to the death of his brother. The same happens to us when we speak. Out of our hearts can pour life or death. To do good is to bring life, to be a blessing in the body. It is to make beautiful sounds, speak words of praise and thankfulness.
If we miss the mark, and dwell in envy, jealousy, bitterness, resentment, or even simple irritation, we will inevitably speak, and the sound will not be beautiful. There is no middle ground on this one, we are actively either sources of life, or sitting at the threshold where sin crouches. If our eyes become opened, and His grace fills us, the life flows easily. Even the brother who slips up and speaks ill of you will not impact you, because you can see Jesus. You can see the price He paid. He made the most beautiful offering to the Father. Consider it was His brothers who slew Him. The Father had rejected their sacrifices and offerings, "I desire not the blood of ...". They fell, envy mastered them, and they rose up to strike down the Son of Man. So when we are stuck, count it all joy that you have been able to be a part of His sacrifice. Surely the result will be a greater measure of eternal life!
And let our eyes be open, our ears sensitive to what comes from our mouths. If I hear myself complain, is the condition of me heart swelling with goodness? If not, let me speak blessings. Let me give thanks to a Father who's love is boundless. Let me make a beautiful sound.
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