**Here is my first blog post for my Old Testament Class**
Many of us know the story about Cain and Abel from the book of Genesis in the Old Testament. Have any of us actually taken the time to really dive into the story and find principles that we can apply into our lives? The important part of the story is not just the well known part of Abel being slain by Cain, but how Cain got to the point where he could actually take the life of his own brother.
In scriptures from both
Genesis and Moses, we find that Cain had more sinful acts than just
murdering his brother Abel. Cain's problems stemmed from the fact
that “Cain loved Satan more than God.” (Moses 5:18). Because of
his love for Satan, Cain did not respect the Lord and ended up giving
an insufficient offering to the Lord. The Lord did not respect the
offering that Cain presented and Cain “was very wroth” (Gen. 4:
5) with the Lord. Joseph Smith expounds more in the Old Testament
Student Manual about why the Lord felt Cain's offering was
insufficient. “[Cain's offering]... was not accepted, because he
could not do it in faith” and “whatsoever is not of faith, is
sin.” Why is that faith was required to be part of Cain's offering?
Because one must have faith in the Atonement of Christ and their
ability to be forgiven by the Lord in order to receive the
forgiveness and blessings that come from an offering. Cain needed to
realize that there needed to be a sacrifice on his part so that he
could show that he understood the sacrifice that the Savior made by
giving up his life so that we may all be forgiven of our sins and
live again. Even though Cain lacked the faith to make a proper
offering to the Lord, the Lord did not give up on Cain and told him
to repent or “he would rule over Satan.” ( Gen. 4:7)
Just like Cain's
unacceptable offer to the Lord, our own offerings can be unacceptable
as well. Many times in our lives we are just “going through the
motions” and “doing what we are suppose to be doing” but not
actually thinking about why we are doing those things. From the story
of Cain and Abel, we learn that the Lord requires us to have faith in
our offerings so that he can accept them. We need to exercise more
faith in every aspect of our lives whether it be our prayers,
scripture study, service to others, fast offerings, tithing, etc.
With that added faith and conviction that what we are doing is
pleasing to the Lord, we will end up receiving more blessings that
will help us in our time upon this earth. We will also receive more
strength to resist the temptations of Satan so that we do not give
into him like Cain did.
When the Lord did not accept
Cain's offering, Cain “was very wroth, and his countenance fell.”
(Moses 5:21) Instead of accepting the Lord's offer of repentance and
forgiveness, Cain “listened not any more to the voice of the Lord.”
(Moses 5:26). From that point on, Cain began to converse exclusively
with Satan and secretly plotted out to kill his brother Abel. After
seeking his brother out and slaying him, the Lord came to Cain and
asked “where is Abel thy brother?” and Cain replied “I know
not. Am I my brother's keeper?” (Gen. 4:9). The irony of Cain's
question is that we ARE our brother's keeper. Many times in the
scriptures the Lord tells us that we need to “love our neighbor as
thy self” and that statement alone places a responsibility upon us
to serve and love our family, friends, and neighbors.
The story of the Good
Samaritan found in Luke 10 in a perfect example of how lots of people
get wrapped up in their own judgmental and selfish lives. How many
of us would have been one of the people that walked to the other side
of the street to avoid the unknown injured man that was dying in the
middle of the road? I hate to think anyone capable of doing that, but
how many times in our lives do we do similar things? There are times
in all of our lives where we have seen someone in need and should
have reached out a helping hand, but we used the excuses of having no
time, not knowing the person, being scared of rejection, etc. In
those situations, are we not responding to the Lord's question that
same way that Cain did? “ Am I my brother's keeper?” Instead of a
question, it should be a statement that reads “I AM my brother's
keeper.” I know that I need to do better to follow the Savior's
example of charity and love for all and be better about reaching out
a helping hand no matter what the situation. We all have a
responsibility to be our brothers keeper.
In Alma 3:27 it reads “every
man receiveth wages of him whom he listeth to obey.” We all have
agency to choose who we are going to listen to and obey. We can
either choose to follow the Lord or to follow Satan. Our purpose in
this life is the prove the we are worthy to return to live with our
Heavenly Father again. We prove our worthiness through the choices
and decisions we make upon this earth. We have that opportunity to
choose because of the agency that was given to us by the Lord. Cain
had the same agency that we all have. He could have chosen to repent
of his insufficient offering and reject Satan, but instead he chose a
path of unrighteousness that lead to the killing of his brother and a
life of sin. We all have the agency to choose what we want to do in
this life, but just like the story of Cain there are consequences to
every decision that we make.
I have a testimony that if
we choose to serve the Lord and have faith in him, that our lives
will be extremely blessed. Satan has nothing to offer except a life
of heartache and misery. I know what it feels like to fall to
temptation and the feelings and consequences that come along with it
are not worth it. Choose to stay on the Lord's side. His side is one
of true eternal happiness. I know that if we make good choices and
focus on getting to know the Lord better, that we will will become
better and our lives will be blessed because of it. I know this
church is true and that the stories that we read in the Old Testament
really did happen. I know that the principles taught in the Old
Testament are still applicable to us today and if we choose to apply
them into our lives we will be blessed. I encourage everyone that
reads this post to make the choice found in Jos. 24:15 “as for me
and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
