Meditation

10/02/2020

“In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If yo 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.’” (Genesis4:3-7)

When people worship, they naturally bring an offering from the produce of their labor. God does not accept all worship acts. The Bible does not say why Cain’s worship was unacceptable, but these verses clearly say that Cain brought “some” of the fruits of the soil as an offering. While Abel brought some of the “first fruits,” which is a requirement.

Cain became angry and upset, but the Lord told him, “if you do what is right, you will be accepted.” Clearly the Lord is telling Cain something very important, for He then says to him, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Cain’s response is jealousy and anger and it determined his decision to kill his brother. No matter how unjust life appears to be or how badly our ancestors handled life, we cannot lay our sin on someone’s else’s shoulders. Each of us, beloved, must bear responsibility for our own personal sinful actions.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“The world asks for your best, God asks for your all!”

KNOWING GOD:

“As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worship, each at the entrance to his tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.” (Exodus33:9–11)

Beloved, worship is intensely private and individual. We need to worship together with others in a corporate manner, but such meetings are worthless if we do not have our private and personal worship of the Lord.

The Old Testament begins with individual worship, which is needed to prepare us for corporate worship with the congregation. Both are necessary, but if we are not properly prepared in private, our corporate worship suffers.

I AM:

“Also the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more famous that yours and his throne greater than yours!’ And the king bowed in worship on his bed and said, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has allowed my eyes to see a successor on my throne today.’” (1^stKings 1:47–48)

Prayer can include specific requests, which king David had asked for a successor for himself to be named. Upon hearing the royal officials say, “May your God make Solomon’s name more famous than David’s and his throne greater than David’s.” David’s prayer and request included the royal officials in the fulfillment of God’s purposes. This led to David’s bowing in worship on his bed and saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel who has allowed his eyes to witness his successor on his throne that day.”

Second Thought of the Day:

“Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him he said, ‘Do you believe in he Son of Man?’ “Who is he, sire?’ the man asked. ‘Tell me so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said, ‘You have now seen him; in fact he is the one speaking with you.’ Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him.” (John 9:35-38)

This dialogue comes from Jesus’ healing of the man blind since birth, that Jesus healed. He was accosted by the authorities said he blindness came from sin. Jesus accepted the “Son of Man” title and demanded faith in Him as the way to salvation. Worship is the proper response to the “Son of Man.”

Jesus sought to reveal Himself to a humble and teachable person. Avoiding those who resisted believing in Him, Jesus sought to reveal Himself to a humble and teachable person, for the Son of man was revealing God’s kingdom to the world. Jesus often probed for belief, for the faith response to the healing was, properly, worship. The prayer of commitment and faith heals spiritual blindness. Worship is an activity of believers in positive response to Christ Jesus.