Don't Answer The Door

God tried to get Cain to release his anger and focus on doing what was right. He tried to get Cain not to open the door because sin was crouching outside it waiting for an opening. Cain, like so many of us, did not listen. Strangers Rest, there are times when we do not need to answer the door. If sin was waiting for Cain, trust me, it is waiting for us too. The last point I want to make from this story is what God told Cain in verse seven. God told him that sin crouched at the door and desired to have him, but he had to master it – to rule over it. Ephesians 4:26-27 from the Amplified Bible says, “(26) BE ANGRY [at sin – at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behavior], YET DO NOT SIN; do not let your anger [cause you shame, nor allow it to] last until the sun goes down. (27) And do not give the devil an opportunity [to lead you into sin by holding a grudge, or nurturing anger, or harboring resentment, or cultivating bitterness].” Paul wrote that when we are angry we should not sin – anger opens a door as it gives the devil an opportunity just like we saw with Cain.

Let me give you a natural example to share a spiritual truth. Our home is our shelter as it provides protection. If someone came knocking on the door and their intention was to harm us, the only way they could get in would be if we let them in – if we were home protecting the house. Picture this scenario. My doorbell rings and I go to the door. I ask who it is, and the person says, “I am here to hurt you.” Now if I do not open the door, I am fine. However, if I were like those people in those scary movies, I would be stupid and open the door and say, “Come on in, I am ready to be hurt.” This is what we do spiritually. When sin comes knocking at the door, we answer it. We invite it in and give it a hug like a long-lost friend that we have not seen in a while and once it gets in our home – in us as the temples of God – it is extremely hard to get it out. It might not look like sin at first, but it turns into that after it gets its hooks into us. Sin is always standing and knocking at the doors of our lives, looking in the windows to see if we will let it in. Sin is like that thief that tries to get in through the open basement window or the unlocked back door. Whatever he can do to enter our lives he will do it. That is the reason that Jesus called Satan a thief. He said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…..” (John 10:10)

Now, let me give you a few examples of how we can open the door just a little and our enemy will come barging in with accusations leveled against us after the sin caused havoc in our lives:

• Overspending and then using credit cards to go further into debt. Why is this opening a door? Because it puts us into slavery to the lender and, our enemy will use our debt to present us with more opportunities to take our minds off Christ. Solomon told us that, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7) Our debts make us slaves to the one who loaned us the money. And for those who borrow and do not repay, Psalms 37:21 tells us, “The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous shows mercy and gives.” How we manage our money opens doors that can be hard to close.