Our Bible passage this week reminded us that sin desires us. Do we desire God even more? Meditate on that thought today.

Since we’ve been talking about fire drills all week, it seems fitting to pray for emergency personnel. Entrust them to God’s protection.

Thank God today for giving us warning signs when we are tempted to sin. Thank him for loving us even when we ignore the warnings.

We try to block as many Danger Doors as we can to keep loved ones safe, but eventually, they have to decide for themselves. Pray for wisdom.

What Danger Doors are you facing right now? Is it really worth it to enter, or do you have the courage to turn away and take another route?

Think about a time when you ignored the danger signs & stepped into sin, anyway. If you haven’t talked to God about it, today’s a good day.

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?

If we are free in Christ, shouldn’t our lives look different from the world? Meditate on that thought today.

Is there an area where you are being overly protective? Pray about how you need to build trust with someone in your life today.

Lift up your kids (or someone else’s kids) as they take baby steps into Freedom. Cover them in prayer for wisdom, discernment & protection.