If

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

This Old Testament Scripture, some would say only apply to the Children of Israel. I would tell them that this is not true. Because nowhere in the Bible does it tell us to not be humble, to not pray, to not seek the Lord’s face, to not turn from our wicked ways. So, if you are reading your bible correctly then you will realize that the words of the Old Testament are just as important to us as it is to the children of Israel. Are you not a child of God? And in being a child of God do you not take on the name of the Father.

• Were you not brought with a price?

• Are you not adopted into the family of Christ?

So, we are indeed called by His name and in being called by His name we are to do as this Scripture tells us to.

This message comes out of that uncertainty some of us have about the Old Testament and what part it plays in our Christian Walk, so the subject for today is if.

In our Scripture we find that the word if is placed as a condition for the children of Isreal as well as us; something we must do before God does what He desires to do for us. This puts the choice squarely in our laps, because God is ready and able to forgive us and our sins…and the healing of lands means that He can bring about great things into your life. For God to forgive our sins and heal our land we must come to Him in humbleness, giving up of self, seeking Him for direction in our everyday life. If we do these things, then we will see His promises in our lives.

The word if is a very important word in scripture because it calls upon us to do something of our own will; it calls us to react against sin, evil, and wickedness. It calls us to look at our inner self so that we realize what is truly important to us. If we truly wanted to seek God, then we would stop doing some of the things we do that we know are wrong. If we truly wanted to be humble before God, then we would not put any conditions to God before we bow down in submission.

Let’s look back at a condition that God placed before Cain when his sacrifice was not accepted, and Abel’s was.

"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Genesis 4:7

This scripture speaks to us in how we worship God. He is telling Cain, it is not your sacrifice that is displeasing, it is your attitude and reason for how and what you sacrifice. God asked Cain a very important question, along with the reward for doing it. “If you do well, will you not be accepted? “God said, “Cain, it is up to you to decide which direction you want to go.” God then goes on to tell him what happens if he decides to go in a bad direction. We are like Cain in this respect, at times: doing things for God as an obligation, praising God only in the good times, coming to church to be seen, and just nor doing what we know to be right. Let’s look at Hebrews 11:4 to make this point sharper.

"By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks."

We can see that Abel’s offering was done by faith, while it appears that Cain’s had no such faith. So, we see that it is a matter of the heart. It is a matter of the reason why. If we present ourselves before God with faith and love, we will be all the better for it. But if we choose to go our own way, then sin lays in wait for us.

We can see that God was looking in on the heart of Abel and Cain, in how they presented their sacrifices, not in want they were presenting. And because Cain was not operating from good intentions in his worship of God, sin was not far behind, "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” This is where God tells Cain that he could overcome the sin that waits like a lion waiting to pounce on him if he changed his ways. And we can see from the rest of the scripture that sin did overcome him and he killed his brother out of jealously.