Sin separates us from other people and brings sorrow

(by Rachael M)

When Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, they had to work hard to find their daily food.  They surely must have often remembered the happy days in the garden, when God had cared for them and fellowshipped with them.  They surely regretted having disobeyed God. 

However God still loved and cared for Adam and Eve.  In token of his love for them he gave them a baby boy whom Eve named Cain saying, “I had this son with the help of the Lord.”  As the baby Cain grew he was a joy to his parents.  After sometime, God gave Adam and Eve another son, who became a brother to Cain.  He was called Abel.  Later Adam and Eve had many more children.

The two brothers Cain and Abel were different from one another. Cain loved to help his father on the farm and watch different plants grow, while Abel loved animals ever since he was a child. So when they grew up, Cain became a farmer, and Abel a shepherd. As children no doubt Cain and Abel heard their father talk to them about God, who was the creator of heaven and earth.  Adam also taught them how to pray and told them of offerings they could bring to God. He may have told them about how God had killed an animal to make clothes for them.

One day Abel wanted to pray to God. Remembering his father’s teachings, he went to his flock, selected one of the best lambs of his fold as an offering to God. While shedding the blood of the lamb, he may have confessed his sins as he had been told to do.  God was happy to see how Abel loved and obeyed him. He blessed Abel and his offering.

Cain too wanted to bring an offering to God, but wanted to do it his own way.  Perhaps he thought, I have been working hard with my own hands and now I have a good harvest. “Why aren’t my farm products as good as any lamb?”  So Cain collected some of the best fruits from his farm, and brought them to God as his offering.  God however, was not pleased with Cain and his offering, for he saw that Cain’s heart was full of pride.

Cain felt hurt when he saw that God had blessed only Abel’s offering and not his. He envied Abel who was so happy, and was angry with him. Poor Abel wondered why his brother so often tormented him without cause.  Eventually Cain began to hate his brother Abel.  One day God spoke to Cain saying, “Cain why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face? If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling, but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door.  It wants to rule you but you must overcome it.”

It was a warning.  If Cain didn’t give up his hatred, something terrible may happen.  But Cain didn’t want to listen to God. All he could think of was how to take revenge on his brother. So one day he said to Abel, “Let’s go for a walk.”

Abel agreed happily.  He may have though his brother’s anger had calmed down. Unfortunately that was far from true. While they were all alone in the field, Cain suddenly attacked Abel, killed him and left him lying there.

When Cain saw what he had done, he fled.  But God still cared for Cain.  He met him on the way and asked him sadly, “Where is your brother Abel?”

Cain should have felt sorry for the terrible thing he had done but he didn’t. He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

So Cain refused to repent, and hardened his heart. For this reason, he had to flee from home and become a restless wanderer living the rest of his life in fear and suspense.  When Adam and Eve learned what had happened they were been grief stricken. In one day they had lost two of their children. Abel was dead and Cain was as good as dead, for he would never dare to return home.

Sin brought sorrow and unhappiness to Adam’s entire family. It broke the fellowship and unity they had as a family.  The same holds true today. Any sin whether it is envy, pride, lying, hatred, disobedience or stealing makes us unhappy and breaks fellowship.  It separates us from God and from our fellow men.

What should I do then if I sin?

The Bible says that I should confess my sins first of all to God and ask for forgiveness.  I might also need to confess to the one I offended. For instance if I lied or stole from someone, I can ask him to forgive me too.  If I confess my sin I am surely forgiven and I keep my fellowship with God and man unbroken. On the other hand, if like Cain I refuse to repent, I have only myself to blame for the sorrow I experience.

(Adapted from Gen 4:1-16, Heb: 11.4)