I recently read Genesis 4 again - the sordid tale of Cain murdering Abel. It hit me as I read verses 6-7, that part where God warned Cain that sin is crouching at the door, that I had often viewed it as an external object waiting to pounce on Cain. It then occurred to me that I must also often think of sin as something external. It is the evil around me that makes me sin. But is it? I can rebuff the evil around me, but I cannot rule over what is not my domain. I can however rule over what is within my control and power, what is within my own heart. That crouching sin that is ready to pounce on me is within me, not out there somewhere in the form of an external notion, person or thing. I also think that, like Cain, I am quite aware of when I am about to sin, when I am about to succumb to self-indulgence, when I am about to act out on my own terms. I hope I hear God's gracious warning that I can and must rule over my wrongful desire before it festers and devours me and the people around me!
"The LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.'"
Genesis 4:6-7
