January 21, 2014 Up is Better

Up is Better

Read Genesis 4

Gen 4: 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

A downcast face is a common sin in mankind. Downcast, to put it simply, is moving your eyes from looking up to God to looking down at yourself.

      That’s Cain’s issue. He approached the Holy God with an offering, but God preferred Abel’s offering. Cain refused to look up to worship God and see God’s majesty and glory. He said not, “What must I do, Lord to please you?” Instead he looked down to himself and said, “I’ll get even. I’ll show Abel who’s in control, and I’ll show God he can’t tell me what to do.” Cain’s downcast eyes lead to Abel’s death.

      Downcast thoughts lead to jealousy and a sense of being cheated out of what is due. Downcast leads to depression and self-pity. Downcast is self-destructive. And perhaps worst of all, downcast is idol worship.

      That’s right. In his first command to the Hebrews, God said, “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) God pointed their eyes up to see him. To worship God above all other things and creatures, especially self, leads to uplifting joy and love. But downcast eyes prefer to love and worship the self, one’s own ideas and preferences.

      That is exactly what Cain did. He disdained God’s will and further disrupted the harmony of God’s creation as he relented to the sin “crouching at his door.” (v 9) Cain’s downcast attitude destroyed his relationship with God, his brother, his own life of peace, and his family.

LIFE Link: There’s a really good reason scripture says, “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven.” (Psalm 123:1)