Daily Devotionals

Sin is crouching at the door—it wants you, but you can rule over it (Genesis 4:7).

Rabbi Isaac comments on the phrase, "Sin is crouching at the door," saying, "At first it is like a [passing] visitor, then like a guest [who stays longer], and finally like the master of the house" (Genesis Rabbah 22:6). God warns Cain that he must resist sin and master it, or else it will master him. Like his parents, Adam and Eve, Cain encounters a clear choice: obedience and blessing, or disobedience and death. And like his parents, he makes the wrong choice.

We may also see the choice clearly enough, yet find ourselves without the strength to make the right decision. God's intention is to provide the means to obey his Word. Once we choose God's way, the power will be there, as it would have been even for Cain.

With the coming of the Messiah, it became clear that we could have the power to master sin. As Sha'ul (Saul; i.e., Paul) says, "For sin will not have authority over you; because you are not under legalism but under grace" (Romans 6:14). God's grace does not give us the freedom to sin, but the power in Messiah to rule over the sin that crouches at our door.

...examine my heart for any excuses I still use to justify sinful behavior in my life. I will not allow sin to rule me, but I will master it through Messiah.

RR