Avoiding Sin

Passage: Genesis 4 v 6-7

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? why is your face downcast? If you 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." Meditating on this verse reveals some truths about the nature of sin. These verses portray sin as an entity which has abilities, desires and characteristics.

Sin has the ability to "crouch at your door." In other words, sin can lurk around in an individuals surrounding.

Now just the same way as human beings we desire things, sin also has its own desires. While human beings can desire things like companionship, success, food, leisure, the main thing which sin desires is to posess the life of children of God.

If sin can succeed in posessing the life of a child of God, it will become the dictator of events in the life of that individual. For instance, if it is the will of God for that person to be in good health, or to succeed and graduate from college, the individual will fail or be sick because of sin. In other words, sin becomes the master and this person becomes a slave (John 8v34). God no longer rules as supreme in the affairs of such an individual.

In addition to what has been said so far, we see that sin is not a respecter of persons. Sin tries to take hold and enslave anybody who attracts it. The question we should ask ourselves now is "how do people attract sin?"

1) People attract sin by doing what is bad (From the passage):

from our passage we hear God telling Cain that he would have been accepted if he did the right thing. Now because of that, he (Cain) had attracted sin. Sin saw that Cain had passed the test of doing what was wrong and immediately became attracted. Since that day sin remained at the doorway to Cain's heart. Because sin is so persistent in it's mission, it tormented Cain's thoughts until it was able to get Cain to decide and kill his brother Abel (Genesis 4v8). This was what God tried to warn Cain about.

How do we avoid Sin?

We can avoid sin by staying away from things that will attract sin. Sin is attracted to everything bad and unpleasant. For example, lustful thought can lead to pornography, masturbation, fornication, adultry etc. Parents who create a bad atmosphere for their children by arguing or assault, may end up getting a divorce which is against biblical principles. It's like a chain reaction, when one starts the others get going. The truth is that sometimes we do make mistakes and end up doing bad things, but even in that state we can avoid sin, or avoid sinning the more.

If we observe what God told Cain we'll see that Cain was advised to "master sin" (Genesis 4v7)

We can master sin by not obeying it. We can take authority by not being enslaved by sinful desires. When we do what is wrong either as an error or knowingly, we must immediately stop and make our ways right. Ask for forgiveness, confess. If you steal something give it back because if you don't, sin will come in and make you tell lies in order not to get caught. Overtime, one thing will lead to another and your initial sin will become multiplied.

Now you may be thinking, "is it possible to avoid doing bad in the first place?" The answer is yes according to Philippians 4 v 13. Through Christ we can do all things. As a christian you have access to the power of the Holy Spirit which was upon Christ.

Lastly Be Encouraged:

If you're struggling with sin, you can be set free. The bible says in John 8 v 34 - 36:

- a person who sins is a slave to sin.

- a slave does not have a permanent place or position in the family, only a son does.

- therefore Jesus christ can set you free from being enslaved by sin.

- give your life wholly to Christ and He will set you free.

Let God rule your life.

Stay Blessed.

Bamex.