It’s Fire Awareness Week at school, so the kids have drawn escape routes for our house and discussed our outdoor emergency family meeting place. They’ve also learned how to test a door before opening it, to be sure that it’s safe on the other side: you place the back of your hand against the door to feel for heat. If it’s warm, then danger lurks on the other side, and you need to exit another way.

Something as seemingly simple as a fire drill needs to be reviewed periodically, lest we become complacent and forget how important it is. This reminds me of the story of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4, which I’ve heard so many times that I made the mistake of thinking that I knew the whole tale. To my embarrassment, I realized that I’ve been overlooking a very important part of the story! Somewhere between Cain and Abel’s offerings to the Lord (whereby Abel’s was accepted and Cain’s was rejected) and the point where Cain murders his brother, something remarkable happened. It’s tucked into the story in verses 6-7:

“And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why do you look sad and depressed and dejected? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

After his sacrifice was found to be disrespectful, Cain didn’t rush right out and murder Abel. God had a talking-to with Cain first. It sounds to me like God was offering Cain a fire drill opportunity. Cain had gotten himself into a bad situation, but instead of trying to escape the mess that he’d made by choosing to do the right thing and take a route that would please God, he flung open the Danger Door and walked right into the fire.

Sin is crouching at the door. Will we check for danger signs first, or will we barge right through, pretending not to notice the warnings?