Squats

If you or anyone around you is focused on physical fitness, the image that comes to mind when you hear the term squat is likely someone crouching down as if they are sitting in an imaginary chair and then returning to an upright position. If they’re really serious, they have weights or a medicine ball in their hands. It’s an excellent exercise that I don’t do often enough. While you and I might need to do a few more squats to work on all our lower core muscles, I was reminded recently that someone else has been busy crouching down, and we must be vigilantly aware of him each day.The reminder came as I began Genesis in my priority time. If you remember the story of Cain and Abel, these two brothers each made an offering to the Lord. For an unspecified reason, God found favor with the younger Abel’s offering, but not with Cain’s. This first born was supremely offended. The Lord even asked him, “Why are you angry and why has your face fallen?” Before Cain answered the Lord, God Himself offers a statement that should pierce through any indifference that may have built up in us and cause us to take pause. Here are God’s words to Cain (Genesis 4:7):

“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

If we ever needed confirmation of the intention of sin, this will do it. You see, sin is right on the other side of the door doing squats. He’s hoping to catch you off guard. He desires to take you down. Have no doubt, he hasn’t missed his workout. The enemy has no real power compared to the Lord, but like the insecure buff guy at the gym projecting his coolness, he likes to flex his muscles and make everyone else feel inferior.[bctt tweet="The Lord will not tell us to do something that He will not equip us to carry out."]This message was a warning to Cain, but it was a warning with hope. God told Cain that sin had a desire for him, but he must rule over it. The Lord will not tell us to do something that He will not equip us to carry out. Through Christ, we have the ability to overrule sin. We don’t have to be naïve and walk through a new door into the face of trouble. Instead, we can pull a Jack Bauer and go in with our guns loaded, fully knowing there’s a danger on the other side of that door.As I finished my priority time, I applied this truth by asking the question:

What sin is crouching at my door?

Immediately, the Lord brought two situations to mind where I was in danger of giving oxygen to sin. I realized that if I left those two topics alone, there was a high likelihood that resentment and bitterness were going to be the result. Instead, I can be proactive and address the situation head on and bring resolution. What about you?

What has the potential to become sin in your lifeif you don’t choose to confront it now and disarm the enemy?

Don’t be left victim to sin’s body count. With God’s grace and God’s truth, we can overcome it!