Genesis 4

Wow, working on all cylinders today!  The little man, Rocky, decided to sleep through two nights in a row, and dissecting the Word on more sleep is much more fun than on so little sleep.

Genesis 4, well this is a pretty short chapter of the Bible, and the first time I read through it, there wasn't much that really spoke to me.  I decided that is probably why Pastor Mark says to read through each chapter twice.  As I read through it the second time I thought about something.  It doesn't necessarily relate to specific verses, but rather just thoughts that came to my mind.

The thought was to do with Cain and Abel.  These are the "first brothers."  They are the first two children recorded in the Bible.  They are the first to form a brother bond...well, it doesn't turn out to be much of a bond as Cain ends up killing Abel because he is jealous that God accepted Abel's offering and not his own.  This is even more tragic when you read verse 7 and it shows God saying to Cain, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?"  This is showing that God is giving Cain another chance to present an offering that will be acceptable to Him, but instead of doing that, Cain allows his anger to take over him and he uses killing his brother as an outlet for that rage.

This passage made me sad.  I have two sons now, Rocky and Rusty.  So far, Rusty has nothing but absolute, crazy, head over heels love for his little brother.  Just this morning he gave him the biggest unprompted hug and said, "I just love him SO much!"  My heart melted at this, and I thought of how special it is for them to have each other.  They are brothers.  That is such a special bond for them.  After reading this passage this morning and seeing a relationship between two brothers go so wrong, it made me hope for the exact opposite for my two boys.  It made me realize even more how important it is for us to try to encourage their relationship with one another to be loving and caring.  It made me know that praying for them and their relationship is extremely important.

I really do pray and hope that as my boys grow older, they will be great friends, be one anothers' heroes, be there to back each other up, to share triumphs and failures, but mostly just to LOVE each other with a great love.  I guess the only thing I can do is try to model that love myself, to encourage them when they show that love to each other, and pray.