Genesis 4-7

Having a relationship with God will always pay off. God desires to shower blessings and happiness upon each and every one of us. It requires self-sacrifice on our part. I love the story of Cain and Abel. It is not a pleasant one, but it is one that provides a fantastic example for those of us who fail to deny ourselves and allow our temptations and emotions to take over. We are selfish, by nature. We want the best for ourselves and ourselves alone. We believe that what we want and what feels right to us is what we deserve. That belief does not coincide with having a real relationship with the Lord. God wants our best; the things that are hardest for us to surrender. That will prove that He is more important in our lives than any material thing (Genesis 4:2-5). Like Cain, the Lord doesn't just want us to give Him some of what we have. Nor does He want the best of what is easiest for us to give up. If we are not willing to surrender the best of the things that mean most to us, we will never gain the profits of a relationship with our Savior. It's one or the other. They can't interconnectedly rule our lives. By hoarding the best of the best, we are allowing those things to come before God. The desire and action of keeping material things from the Lord is just Satan waiting to own us in disguise. We are not the Lord's territory if He is not first in our lives (Genesis 4:7). If we don't master sin through Christ, sin will (and probably already has) mastered us (Genesis 4:8). Refusing to call on the Lord to fill the void of sinful self-gratification will end up compounding more sin and hurt than most of us even imagine. Sin only snowballs to much worse sin (Genesis 4:9-11). Why wait? God will protect us and bestow His blessings upon us if we ask and truly surrender. The more sin we partake in before giving in to this saving knowledge, the worse the consequences. Sin will ALWAYS have consequences (Genesis 4:13-15). Sin takes over when God is not the center of our lives. If we allow God to be our foundation, He will bestow His blessings upon us (Genesis 6:17-18). From the beginning of creation, it is apparent that He wants to bless us, but we make our choices to go against that. Punishments go hand-in-hand with wrongdoings (Genesis 5:1-2). We can be set apart from that. Call on the Lord and He will protect you from the evils of this world and the consequences intertwined with that alternative lifestyle choice. The key to receiving God's infinite blessings is wonderfully obvious through Noah's example. Obey God's commands EXACTLY and He will take care of you in all things (Genesis 6:22, 7:1). We need to lead others in this just as Noah did. If you do as God commands, people will follow and things will fall into place (Genesis 7:5-10). Unending blessings will forever be a defining characteristic of your life. God is waiting to unceasingly rain blessings and protection down on every one of us; He is waiting to do His part. Will we do ours?