Terry Pruitt's Blog

The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” --Genesis 4:6,7 (ESV) Breaking It Down Cain's sin is iconic in that it is the first sibling rivalry, the first murder, and caused the first exile. He not only hated his brother with jealousy, but his hate gave rise to the shedding of blood. What is an amazing component of the story is that God gave a warning to Cain regarding his temptation to sin. God asked him the question, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?” The question is a use of parallelism. The first phrase “why are you angry” points to the emotional response in Cain that he feels an injustice has been committed against him. The second part of the question is basically a repetition of the idea with a little extra twist to draw attention to the fact that Cain is not only angry, b...

Most of us has been jealous at one time or another. If you are reading this blog, that means you have been here on this sod long enough to experience it. A new insight for me from Romans 10:19, " But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, 'I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry'.” (ESV) While jealousy is not a positive attitude, in fact it can be one of the most negative ones, God says he is using it to shape those who are his people. While the Christian must be careful not to sanctify his sin, here is an intriguing concept, God can use my most negative attitudes to draw me to godliness. I can see the godliness and success of others, let that make me jealous, and then I pursue God according to his program of grace and faith and leave my own system of merit on the floor.