Genesis 4-7
Passages that stuck out to me:
Gen 4:4b - "The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering"
Gen 5:24 - "Enoch walked with God, and he was not there, because God took him."
My Thoughts on this Passage:
There's a lot of ground that's covered in these 4 chapters. First of all, we read about the story of Cain and Abel. This is a perfect example of what God asks from us with regards to giving Him an offering. God wants our best, our first fruits. Not only that, but He wants the offering to be made from a pure heart. While it doesn't say what was wrong with Cain's offering, we do know that God was not pleased with it. Perhaps Cain didn't give the best of his crops, or, maybe he only gave a small portion of his crops. Maybe it was his attitude that got him in trouble. Regardless, God was not pleased. It reminds me of a sermon I heard Voddie Baucham give on insincere worship. He said that God doesn't want our insincere worship. He would rather us not worship at all than to worship half-heartedly. I think the same could be applied to every aspect of our lives. God wants our best time, our best money, our best talent, our best (fill in the blank). He doesn't want leftovers. So, the question is…how much to I prioritize God with regards to those areas of my life? Do I give to God first, then portion out the rest? This is where the story of Cain and Abel hits home. There are times when I am jealous of someone else because of the "offering" they are giving to God. I began to covet their talent, money, or capabilities compared to my own. It is then, that I am Cain!
Contrast Cain's life with that of Enoch. Chapter 5 of Genesis starts running through some genealogies and life spans (man they lived a long time before the flood)! Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam along Seth's line. The piece of bible trivia here is that Enoch was one of two people in the Bible (Elijah) that didn't die. God just took them away. What a way to go huh? Enoch gets four sentences about his life in Genesis. However, what power there is in these sentences. I wonder if someone had to write 4 sentences about my life what it would say. Two of the sentences about Enoch were dedicated to who his kids were and how long he lived. The other two sentences have a similar phrase, "he walked with God." What a way to be remembered! My prayer is that people will say that about my life when all is said and done. However, I've got a lot of work to do to ensure that as my legacy. We were actually talking about this in Sunday School this morning. My identity, after accepting Christ as my Savior, is found in God alone. There are times that I lose my focus of that due to hard times that come my way. My perception becomes skewed because I look at the "problem(s)" that are facing me and the problem(s) become my focus. Instead, what God is calling me to do is to look at Him in those situations and realize that He should be my focus. He's the one that can see me through the tough times as well as the good times. Now that's reassuring.
The last thing I thought about while reading this passage was something Gelaina and I were talking about earlier today. How bad must things have been for God to say that He wants to destroy everything He created? On top of that, how lonely must Noah and his family have felt being the only righteous person on the planet!! You want to talk about sticking to your guns!! This is just another example of how God will supply for all our needs no matter the circumstance. When everyone else on the planet was turning their backs on God, Noah found the strength to stand alone (he and his family). I can't fathom the ridicule he must have faced. As I look around the world I live in, I can't help but think that if God hadn't made that promise with Noah, that He would wipe this world out again and start over in a heartbeat. However, our God is faithful to His word, and it is my responsibility to be Noah in these difficult times. It's good to know that God will be there for me in just the same way He was there for Noah.
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