"sin lieth at the door"

[Carol]

After Cain’s offering was not accepted, the Lord said to him, “…if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” That was a warning that sin was stalking him!

But Cain didn’t listen to the warning. Instead of stamping his foot and demanding that error get out, he let the sin of pride and jealousy come right in. Even after killing his brother, he still didn’t get the message, but “went out from the presence of the Lord.”

How often do we think we’re ok and it’s everybody else that’s wrong—even God! I remember reading something by one of the early workers that said that, if a problem comes up, instead of thinking, “why has God done this to me,” say, “what have I done to God”! God only sends good, but it’s up to us to listen to the warnings and make some changes in our lives—it’s only for our own good, and the good of all mankind.

[Shahidat]

I must say for the longest time I did not get why Abel’s offering was acceptable and Cain’s was not. Was God partial to a juicy leg of mutton vs Cain’s harvest bounty? No, God clearly loved the brothers equally so the issue must be with the offeror and not the offering itself. Cain made his with the wrong motive in his heart and rather than take the correction and reconcile himself, Cain took offense and lashed out in a fit of covetousness and jealousy at his brother. Great lesson for all.

[Espaid]

From “Mary Baker Eddy: Her Spiritual Footsteps” by Gilbert Carpenter

It requires a well-developed spiritual thought to be able to trace the mental cause from its human manifestation. No one without it could have detected any difference between the offerings brought by Cain and Abel. Yet, the Lord, or spiritual perception, had no respect unto Cain’s offering because it was discerned that back of it was the human, and not the divine Mind. This fact was exposed to be true because of the murder of Abel by Cain which followed…

What use would it be to try to unfold spiritual facts to one who insisted that the offerings of Cain and Abel were alike in value because of their outward appearance? The greater works which the Master promises, and which follow when man’s thought goes to the Father, can alone convince one’s beclouded sense of the true divinity of the thought back of the works, since beclouded sense sees no further than the surface from which to judge. If mind is causation, then every effect must follow a mental cause. Only as this is understood can the importance be recognized of replacing the human mind with the divine. Otherwise, one will judge effects at their face value, regardless of the cause back of them. The standard Mrs. Eddy presented is, that no matter how wonderful effect may appear to be, it is to be cast aside as worthless unless the cause is spiritual and therefore right.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Espaid.

[Betty S]

Genesis 4 :6 & 7
“6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”

These two verses have caught my attention all week. God is telling Cain he doesn’t need to be angry or discouraged. If sin is why your gift is not accepted then you have the God-given ability and dominion to get rid of it. It’s not personal. It’s just error.
In Ellicott’s Commentary for English readers, he translates it as, “if thou doest not well, sin lieth (croucheth as a beast of prey) at the door, and its desire is to thee, to make thee its victim; but thou shalt rule over it, and overcome the temptation.”

Thank you lesson writer. Great lesson.

[Author]

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