Note: Devotional based on last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 4:16-26.
And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he
builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son,
Enoch (Genesis 4:17).
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his
name Enos: then began men to call on the name of the LORD (Genesis 4:26).
In Genesis 4, two distinct lines are traced. One is the line of
Cain (vv. 16-24), who was “of that wicked one” (1 John 3:12), and the other is
the line of Seth (vv. 25-26).
We are left to ponder: Are we part of the line of Cain or the line
of Seth? Do we take the broad way to destruction or the narrow way to life
(Matthew 7:13-14)?
Will we build our city (our empire), as did Cain (v. 17) trying to
make a name or leave a legacy for ourselves?
Will we lead a life with only secular strivings, as did those in
Cain’s line, even if we do become skilled at amassing cattle, making music, or
becoming a skilled artisan (vv. 19-22), but doing it all apart from any relationship
with Christ?
Will we only be able to give our children a material inheritance
when we leave this earth, or will we leave them something more?
Will we cast aside the original good design of God, as Cain’s descendent
Lamech did when he took two wives (v. 19; contra Genesis 2:24)?
Will we live to have men fear us, as did Lamech (v. 24), vowing to
pay back any slight with seventy-seven times the force, breathing out threats,
and boasting, living by the creed, “Mess with the best and get burned like the
rest”?
Or will we go the way of Seth and be weak and humble before the
LORD, asking him to remember that we are but dust.
Will we call upon the name of the LORD (v. 26), seeing the worship
of God as the true end of man, and will we pass this truth on to our children and
grandchildren?
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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