4:7 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.
8:21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again
will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of
his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all
living creatures, as I have done.
Along with my concerns in battling the Enemy, I am obviously concerned with battling sin. I love my Heavenly Father more than anything. Sin clearly breaks His heart. I desire to avoid doing that out of my love for Him, so I find it frustrating and discouraging that I am still so guilty of it. I mean, I know we're all sinners, but to me it kind of sucks to know that while I aim to bring Him joy(which I hope I do), I still continue to sin. I know that we will all live and die sinners because redemption and salvation are God's masterpiece.
I really like these two verses. They are both encouraging because God clearly tells us that we will battle sin ("it desires to have you") all the days of our lives. 4:7 (God speaking to Cain) is interesting because it kind of speaks to me that God knows our hearts, and knows when we are attempting to do right, but also causes me to think that if we do not do right, sin is waiting to grab tight to us and take us in a downward spiral. While we are bound to sin even when doing what is "right", if our hearts are always set on doing what is right (pleasing Him), then it would be much more difficult for sin to grab a hold of us. The only thing I'm curious about is the "mastering" of it. Is it possible to master sin? If God commands that we must do that, then I must believe that it is within reach. He kind of gets me pumped by saying this. :)
8:21 (God speaking after the flood) It is encouraging to see that God so early and blatantly recognizes that every inclination of our hearts is evil from childhood. I know you may be saying,. "why encouraging?". To me, it is encouraging because even from the very beginning we as people were screwed up, sinners, and God definitely calls us all out, but is careful to let us know that mastering sin is possible, and that we in fact "must master it". Encouraging. :)
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