Is our motive & attitude acceptable to God?
“If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” – Gen 4:7
In Genesis 4, we read of the story many remember about Cain and Abel. These brothers each had their respective skills. Cain was a man who worked in the fields, while Abel tended to flocks. Each had his job and both gave onto the Lord. But the bible says that Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil, while Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.
When you first read this passage, you might think of the items Cain and Able brought simply as their tithes and offerings right? I sort of did myself at first. But I now believe this is really about their heart, attitude and motive in all areas of their lives. I'm going to raise my hand acknowledging fault with being caught in the same boat as Cain in many ways with my motive and attitude toward life probably not being fully committed to God.
This bible passage left me asking once again: Who is first in my life? Is it God? Really??
Right now, I want and desire for it to be God so very bad… but what does my life look like if we broke it down day by day? I wake up on an average week day, up and running my life in every direction that deals with my wife, kid, family and business. If we take a closer look at our lives on this micro level, it becomes more about ourselves, doesn't it? By time I've committed all my brain's resources into my business on most days, I'm usually running to grab my daughter at daycare, to rush home and join my wife in unwinding through the tasks of dinner, house chores and getting ready to shut down and do it all over again the next day.
So I've gotta ask: Are we prioritizing a God first mentality in our homes? Is your motive to first thank God for the breath of life you have when you first awake? If not, then when you open your eyes, give thanks to Him for your rest and your waking up once again! Don't jump out of bed ungrateful. I'm sharing this blog post with you, but in many ways I'm speaking to myself here. I can often jump out of bed, dealing with my daughter and thinking about all the tasks I have that day for work and off I go… no thanks to the Lord and Savior, whose grace and mercy is the reason I have life, love, a home, a wife, a child, a business, health and on and on.
This leads me to my 2nd question: What are our day's wishes? Are our wishes that we be obedient to the word and will of God? If not, then we need to get up each day reading the bible to gain understanding about His instructions for our lives and how He wants us to pursue our lives throughout each day. You or I couldn't just show up to our jobs each day without directives from our boss, right? We don't just do what we feel like… we usually have a role and responsibilities that we must accomplish as part of a bigger goal for our companies each day. If we don't do them well and consistently, we'd get fired!! So how can we go about doing God's will without first getting instructions from God and figuring out not just what He wants but how He wants us to do our jobs as His servants? We've got to set aside time each and everyday (preferably at the start) for reading the word and praying (and communicating) with God. Then we gotta go out and get practical with the word, applying it throughout our lives.
As the verse at the top of this post says, we've got to become masters over our sinful nature. That only happens by allowing God to be the master of our time and lives. (please stop here and read Romans [spp-timestamp time="6:16"]-23). If you and I don't control this sinful nature, it will control us. Please take control today of your attitude and motive and be confident that they are in line and acceptable to God.
Photo by Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash
