“13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” -Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)
The World’s First Murder
In my last post, I talked about the fact that we all have to choose which road we’re going to travel: that narrow road that leads to life, or the wide path that leads to destruction. When Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden of Eden in the aftermath of their sin, it should have been a wake-up call for humanity to repent and start seeking God with all their heart, soul, and strength. It should have caused us to take a hard look at ourselves in the mirror and resolve to never make that kind of mistake again.
But as we know, that’s not what happened. Not even close.
The next story in the Bible after Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden is the world’s first murder (Cain and Abel). Cain and Abel both offer sacrifices to God, but God is only pleased with one of those sacrifices — Abel’s. Cain’s anger begins to burn. Not necessarily at himself for withholding something from God, but at his brother for being the object of God’s affection. In other words, it was a jealous, self-centered anger.
And in that moment, Cain felt the strong pull of our enemy, the Devil.
The Fork in the Road for Cain
God tries to warn Cain about the nature of sin and the costly consequences of giving into temptation when he tells him, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7, NIV).
God seems to be presenting Cain with two possible paths:
Do what is right (the Hebrew word is tov), and things will go well. This is the same word that God uses throughout the creation account in Genesis 1 to describe the world as he intended it to be (he saw that it was “good”). God is encouraging Cain to live the way he was created to live — to return to God’s plan for his life instead of making the same mistakes his parents did.
Give into temptation, and you’ll be devoured. Notice that God personifies sin and depicts it as a vicious creature looking to destroy us. Sin is not just a theory or an abstract concept about breaking God’s rules — it is a powerful force that seeks to destroy us. 1 Peter 5:7 says it like this, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
The Nature of Sin (And How to Respond)
These two passages (Genesis 4:7 and 1 Peter 5:7) help us understand three important truths about the nature of sin and how we are to respond:
They describe what Satan or sin itself is doing — Crouching at our door, prowling around for us like a lion looking for prey.
They describe Satan’s or sin’s motivation — They desire to have us and devour us.
And they call us to respond — To rule over that temptation and to stand firm against the Devil’s attacks.
In other words, we must learn to rule over sin before it rules over us. I hope passages like this are a wake-up call to take sin more seriously. There is no making peace with sin, no appeasing it, no forming a truce. Either sin rules over us and marches us down the road to destruction, or we rule over it and walk the road of life with Jesus.
Unfortunately, Cain doubled down on the wrong road and suffered the consequences. Instead of choosing the road that leads to life, he accelerated down the road of destruction.
Reflection
So, what road are you on? If you’re on the road that leads to life, how can you take the next step of faith? And if you think you’re on the road to destruction, how can I help you turn around and seek a better path? Send me a message, leave a comment, or give me a call if I can help you or encourage you on your journey.
Grateful for this website to help guide me on the right path!