Like Abel, Not Cain

Submitting to your husband is one of the clearest ways the Christian wife submits to the Lord.

Not because the husband is The Lord (though Sarah had no issue calling Abraham "lord". Would you call your husband "husband", keeping in mind what that means?), nor because it is the only way a wife obeys Christ, but because Christ Himself commanded, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord."

I see no ambiguity in this verse.

Many a wife tells herself she's submitting to God while resisting the very command He has given her.

Cain is a warning against that very kind of religion.

Cain brought an offering. Outwardly, he worshiped. He did something God had commanded, right? But when God rejected his offering, Cain's heart was revealed. His anger exposed that he had never truly submitted himself to God. He wanted to approach God on his own terms.

God didn't debate the details of Cain's sacrifice. He confronted his heart.

"Why are you angry?... If you do well, will you not be accepted?" (Genesis 4:6–7)

That's the issue.

It is possible to perform religious acts while remaining inwardly rebellious.

Likewise, a wife may cook the meals, homeschool the children, clean the house, and even say, "I submit to the Lord," while constantly resisting, resenting, undermining, or despising her husband's leadership.

Like Cain, she is bringing an offering without surrender.

Like Cain, she may point to the work of her hands while refusing the obedience God requires.

Like Cain, she may become angry when her offering is not accepted on her own terms.

Like Cain, she may insist that what she has chosen to give should excuse what she has refused to give...

The rebellious wife may point to everything she has done and say, "But look at all I've sacrificed."

Cain could have pointed to his offering too. "But look!"

God wasn't looking merely at the gift. He was looking at the giver.

The Lord desires more than external obedience. He desires a heart that trusts Him enough to obey Him gladly. Wives: are you obeying God? If so, are you obeying Him gladly?

Abel's sacrifice was accepted because it was offered in faith. Cain's was rejected because his worship was superficial. His later murder simply revealed what had already been true in his heart.

It's not enough to offer the right sacrifice. One must also come with the right heart.

A wife's submission is no different.

God is not pleased simply because she performs the outward duties of marriage. He desires that she follow her husband in faith, believing that in doing so she is obeying Christ Himself.

The difference between Abel and Cain was not merely what was offered.

It was whether they had truly surrendered themselves to God before they ever brought the offering.

It is my belief that if Cain sacrificed imperfectly, but had the right heart, God would have been pleased.

2 Chronicles 30:18-20 says:

... May the good LORD pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God … though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness. And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

2 Corinthians 8:12 says:

If the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have

Cain's problem wasn't that he made an honest mistake in worship. His problem was that his offering revealed a heart that had never truly bowed before God. We know this because when God confronted him, he became angry instead of repentant. And when given the opportunity to master his sin, he murdered his brother instead.

Don't merely bring God an offering. Bring Him you.

Be like Abel, who worshiped in faith. Be like Job, who blessed the Lord even in suffering. Don't be like Cain, who went through the motions of obedience while refusing to surrender his heart.