This devotional is not created to replace a Bible Reading plan or your personal daily connection time with the Lord. Instead, they are meant to be a short, easy time of connection between both your family and the Lord. If you’d like, read the entirety of the scripture focus as a family. You can do this out of a “regular” version of the Bible, or you can find it in a Children’s Bible. In either case, I encourage you to find a version that you are comfortable with and is easy to understand for you and your children. If your children are old enough, have them read along in their own Bibles! If the reading is too long, you can do the devotional by reading only the verse highlight instead.

Also, it can be helpful to reiterate the value for the Bible each time you read from it, as well as ask the Lord to speak to you and help you to understand and know Him. You can do this through a simple prayer like this, “Thank you Lord for giving us your words in the Bible. We know that your words are true. Please help us to understand them. Help us to know you and your ways and live according to them. Amen.”

Scripture Focus: Genesis 4

Verse Highlight: Genesis 4:6 “Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (NASB) 

Introduction Questions: Have you ever done something wrong because you were mad about something? Did that make you feel better or worse? How do you get out of an “angry mood”? What about when you do something good? How does that feel? Does it make you want to do more good things?

Discussion: It is easy to mistakenly believe that God stopped relating with Adam and Eve after they had to move out of the Garden of Eden. But, we know that this isn’t true because their sons knew the Lord! They knew Him to the point that Cain wasn’t surprised that God was speaking to him.  So, it would seem like this story should be a happy one. Unfortunately, it isn’t. It is actually very sad. 

Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to the Lord—which is good. But, something about Cain’s offering wasn’t as pleasing to the Lord as Abel’s offering and this made Cain angry! It wasn’t Abel’s fault that his offering was accepted and Cain’s wasn’t, but he still bore the brunt of Cain’s anger. In fact, he paid for it with his life. This is the problem with anger! When you allow anger to be in control of your actions, it hurts! It hurts you, it hurts the people around you. Unchecked anger can be very destructive! But, there is good news: we don’t have to give it control! 

The Lord, in His kindness, tried to help Cain. “Why are you so angry?” the LORD asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” (Genesis 4:6 NLT) 

When we don’t do things right, it is easy to get angry. It’s silly because we are the ones at fault, but in our anger we get mad at those around us! And if we act in anger, we make a big mess! But, the good news is that the Lord is kind to us, just like He was to Cain. He gave us the Holy Spirit to teach and correct us! If we pay attention, He will let us know that we are starting to think or do things that aren’t right. When that happens, it is up to us to choose to listen and change our behavior. 

Cain could have simply made a new sacrifice, one that was acceptable to the Lord. He should have done this. But, instead, he allowed the anger he had inside to sit and simmer until he did something even worse. Unfortunately, this is usually what happens when we don’t make things right—things get worse. But, if we “subdue” it—by choosing to do what is right!—than it no longer has control. Instead, we do. When we do what is right (even before we might “feel like it”!) it brings us freedom from the messes of sin. 

Closing Activity: Ask each other if there is a specific area where you have been struggling to do the right thing. If someone has something to share, spend time together talking about what “right” action they could take to make sure they aren’t giving sin control. Then, pray as a family, thanking the Lord for the Holy Spirit and asking Him to guide and correct and comfort you.

Bonus Activity: Note: This activity can be messy! I suggest having a baking dish to “catch” the overflow, as well as to do this someplace that a mess won’t be a problem. 

In today’s devotional, we learned about how sin and anger can make a mess if you let them sin inside of you. We are going to do an activity to sho an example of what this is like: 

Get a glass and fill it about half full with vinegar. Then add a squirt of dish soap into it. Finally, add a heaping spoonful of baking soda. Then, watch what happens!
This is what sin and anger can be like if we allow it to remain in our hearts and lives. It overflows and makes a mess! But remember—it doesn’t have to be like this! Instead, we can choose to listen to the Lord and do good. After all, this is a fun activity, but not a fun way to live!