The Thing Under the Boards…

I was 7 years old when I learned that some things don’t hunt you—they just wait for you.

I came home from school that Spring day and went straight to the front porch to check on a mason jar full of tadpoles which I had caught the day before. After seeing that they were still enjoying their stay in my AirBNB, I turned around to head inside, and there he was.

A Copperhead.

He wasn’t chasing me. He wasn’t rattling a warning. He was just... crouched. He’d been tucked into the gap in the porch boards, waiting for the exact moment my guard dropped and my back was turned.

Genesis 4:7 says Sin does the exact same thing.

God warned Cain: "Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you."

We like to think of sin as a "mistake" we make when we’re tired, or a "lapse in judgment."

But the Bible describes it as an entity with a personality and a hungry belly. It’s a predator under the floorboards of your life.

What is it waiting for? It’s waiting for a "bad day." It’s waiting for you to feel unappreciated at work. It’s waiting for that "perceived injustice" where you feel like you deserve a little "extra" because life has been hard.

Cain’s "Copperhead" was resentment. He gave God the leftovers of his harvest—the scraps—and then got mad when God didn't bless his "Leftover Life."

Here is the hard truth for us today: You cannot flirt with a crouching snake and expect not to get bitten. You can’t keep "checking on" that resentment, that secret website, or that bitterness toward your brother and think you have it under control.

Cain thought he could handle it. He ended up a murderer and wanderer in the Land of Nod, losing his family, his home, and his peace.

But there is a "Better Word." The blood of Abel cried out from the ground for vengeance. But the Blood of Jesus speaks a better word (Hebrews 12:24). Abel’s blood condemns the killer; Jesus’ blood cleanses the killer.

God told Cain, "You must master it." Friend, you can't master it on your own willpower. You master it by the power of the Spirit and the finished work of the Cross.

Stop pretending the snake isn't there. Step off the porch and run to the Father.

CHALLENGE: Is there something "crouching" at your door today? A resentment you’re feeding? A "leftover" devotion you’re giving to God?

#SouthernStoryteller #Genesis4 #CrouchingSin #FaithDaily #AlabamaMinistry