Our Daily Bread -- Resisting the Trap

April 12, 2016

Read: Genesis 4:1-8
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 19-21; Luke 11:29-54

Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. —Genesis 4:7

A Venus flytrap can digest an insect in about 10 days. The process begins when an unsuspecting bug smells nectar on the leaves that form the trap. When the insect investigates, it crawls into the jaws of the plant. The leaves clamp shut within half a second and digestive juices dissolve the bug.

This meat-eating plant reminds me of the way sin can devour us if we are lured into it. Sin is hungry for us. Genesis 4:7 says, “If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you.” God spoke these words to Cain just before he killed his brother Abel.

Sin may try to entice us by tempting us with a new experience, convincing us that living right doesn’t matter, or appealing to our physical senses. However, there is a way for us to rule over sin instead of letting it consume our lives. The Bible says, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). When we face temptation, we don’t face it alone. We have supernatural assistance. Relying on God’s Spirit supplies the power to live for Him and others. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Dear God, at times I let down my guard and indulge in sin. Please help me to listen to Your warnings and obey Your Word. Protect me from my own impulses and conform me to Your image. Thank You for Your work in me.

We fall into temptation when we don’t flee from it.

INSIGHT: There has been much theological debate as to why God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s (Gen. 4:4-5). One popular theory is that Abel’s sacrifice mirrored God’s act in the garden of Eden that provided covering for Adam and Eve—by means of an animal’s death—after they disobeyed God (3:21). Another view is that Cain’s offering of what he had grown by his own efforts pictured works, but Abel’s offering of a lamb pictured God’s ultimate sacrifice of grace. It seems that these brothers must have been given some idea of what was—and was not—considered an acceptable offering. Bill Crowder

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