The Kitchen Table Devotions: The Game of Life Day 48
“Sacred: The Family”
Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? Genesis 4:6
Everybody is somebody’s child, and everybody should be in somebody’s family. God has ordained the family for everybody to be under somebody’s care. The family is to be sacred and everyone in the family is sacred to God. All lives matter and those that don’t, don’t think all lives matter either.
Families are filled with faces and faces fill the family’s time. The Bible says, “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face.” (Prov 15:13) and “As water reflects the face, so the heart of a man reflects the man.” (Prov 27:19) What’s really sacred, isn’t the smile but the spirit of a person. But if you watch the face you can see the spirit. God came to Cain asking, “And why has your countenance changed?” Cain had become offended and angry. He had become offended and angry because he wouldn’t trust God. That’s the issue in every angry life. Cain brought God what was leftover. Able brought God what was first. Able trusted God first, Cain turned to God last. That’s not how life works. But God came to Cain, like every parent should with their children, and asked why he had lost his smile, told him where he could find a new one and pointed out what would happen when he did find a new smile. What’s really important is not the smile but the spirit, however, the spirit affects the smile.
Everybody needs somebody to care about their spirit. God made the family and the church family for that very cause. That will mean keeping their face in our eyes, their spirit in our hearts, and the person in our space and time.
From the Kitchen Table 