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My Brother's Keeper?

Words of Faith Final

My Brother's Keeper?
Words of Faith 2-3-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Genesis 4
    [9] Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
    "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
    [10] The Lord said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. [11] Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. [12] When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."
    [13] Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is more than I can bear. [14] Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
    [15] But the Lord said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. [16] So Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

        Have you ever noticed that when God asks a question, it is for the benefit of the one questioned and not for His benefit? The Lord asked Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" Of course, He knew their location. He called them to consider, "Where are you with me?" Here the Lord confronted the sin of Cain by asking, "Where is your brother?" What has happened in this relationship?
        Cain tried to dodge his sin by lying and questioning his responsibility to care for his brother. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
        We can hear the pain this caused the Lord as He exclaims, "What have you done?"
        The consequence of murder was that the innocent blood of Abel cried out for justice. It is interesting that for this first murder, there was no capital punishment. Why? Because there was not yet any Law to provide for such a punishment. That would come later. Instead, Cain experienced an expanded curse of the ground. His working of the land would be unproductive, and he would be a restless wanderer. Life just got harder. Much harder! Sin has a way of doing that.
         Even amid this judgment, we can see the gracious hand of God. The Lord chose, by His grace, to protect Cain with a mark so that he would not be killed for sport or vengeance. It was a blessing that cut two ways because it also meant that Cain would live out his natural life under the curse of wandering and the inability to be productive in the soil. It was a painful life sentence.
         It is interesting to observe that much of the despair in our world is rooted in violence against fellow man. There is a curse that comes as a result of violence. It is the curse of unproductive agriculture and restless wandering. Could it be that the more humans envy and turn to violence, the more they find a loss of productivity and a restless life?
        The questions that God asks are timeless. They continue to probe us from the Word centuries later. The Lord God asks, "Where are you with Me?" as He did to Adam and Eve. How is your relationship with Me? The Lord God asks, "Where is your brother?" How is your relationship with your brothers and sisters? How is your relationship with fellow humans?  
        We may respond by saying, "I don't know…" but that is not good enough. We need to know. Neglect is a sin as well as violence. That is the point. We may dodge responsibility by saying, "Am I my brother's keeper" but that is no use. "Keeper" does not mean "master." It means "protector" or "hedge." We are the protectors of our brother or sister. We are the protectors of the relationships entrusted to us. We are responsible for this group of relationships.
        These responsibilities are summed up in the Law that says we are to love God and love neighbor. Jesus said that every other law hangs from these two. Where are you with God? Are you loving Him? Where are you with your brothers and sisters? Are you loving them? Guarding them? Protecting them?

         Lord, I give thanks for the gift of others. Relationships can be complicated, but they are a great blessing. Forgive me the neglect of my relationship with You. I will seek to love You with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Forgive me for the neglect of my relationships with others. Give me wisdom and strength to guard and protect others and treasure those You have put in my life. In Jesus' name.
          
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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.