Stewards and keepers!!
Verse for Today: Monday, July 15, 2013
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?’
The Lord’s question to Cain shows the great interdependence that He had intended for man. All through human history, God never intended man to be selfish and self-sufficient, but to depend on others and be mutually supportive. But man forgets this when he wants the best in life only for himself. But when in need, man has no hesitation to seek others’ help. Cain and Abel are seen worshiping together, although in different ways with different means. But Cain was unwilling to accept the fact that Abel was righteousness and he obeyed God’s commandment in worship. Rather than examining to see what was right about Abel’s worship, Cain was boiled in his jealousy and self righteousness which led him to annihilate his own brother. He forgot the fact that God gave him a brother and appointed him as his keeper, supporter, help and co-worshiper. Cain had the opportunity to learn from the worship of Abel, but instead he was full of jealousy and rage. He had a spirit of competition and he craved for filthy success instead of humility and willingness to learn from his mistakes. Today the world is full of hatred and jealousy because the sinfulness of man has made him seek success even by destroying others. So people tend to fight and cheat to become more successful than others rather than learning from each other. This is blatant even in Christendom and at times among God’s children. But God wants to remind us that we are keepers of our dear ones and we are accountable to God for them. If we don’t take this responsibility seriously and fulfill it on the basis of the grace that is given to us, we would be the biggest losers of spiritual blessings. Today God extends to us the opportunity to mend our relationships and build others up.
Dear friend, are you a steward of other children of God or their competitor? Are you building up on your stewardship or tearing others apart? If you are tempted to fall into jealousy, competition and rage, there is a place to go for true brokenness which is at the foot of the cross of Jesus. As God deals with us in grace, love and mercy, we also ought to deal with other human beings and especially the household of faith in the like manner. But it is true that the sinfulness that is in us will make it a great challenge to live at peace with others. Our selfish nature often makes us assassins of the character of others around us, thus puts us in the same category of Cain. We must fight a constant battle to subdue our negative emotions towards our fellow beings. We may not like them or their actions, but we must learn to agree to disagree agreeably. We are commanded to love even our enemies and if so how much more should we love the household of faith! Every ill-will, jealousy, hatred, misunderstanding, misinterpretation and misrepresentation must be taken to the foot of the cross and be crucified with Christ. Every urge for retaliation and revenge must be brutally dealt with on the cross. We must learn great lessons of forgiveness from Jesus on the cross and Stephen as he was stoned. We must look at each person we encounter with compassion because all those whom we meet are fighting their own battles. We must seek to help those in turmoil rather than pouring oil into their fire. Let us pour cold water on the fire, and cool water on their feet to make them find comfort and rest. Remember, we are appointed as keepers of our fellow human beings in order to show them the way to true love, grace and compassion of our God.
Matthew 25:40 – ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Thought for Today
Our fellow human beings are the souls we are to watch over for God’s sake.
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