There are two paths in life: the path of the serpent’s seed and the path of the woman’s seed; the path of the children of the devil and the path of the children of the Lord.

In these verses we see both these paths. Cain follows the path of sin and Satan, while Seth follows the path of the Lord. Let’s have a look at where these two paths lead.

God tells Cain that he is going to be a fugitive and vagabond. This means that he has to wander around all the time. But Cain doesn’t want to listen to the Lord. He wants to do his own things. Instead of wandering around, he decides to build a city, to settle down. Disobeying the Lord leads to more and more sins. We read that Lamech, a great, great grandchild of Cain, takes two wives. The Lord clearly commanded that a man should only marry one wife, yet he decides to have two wives.

And we read of further sin. Lamech must have killed someone, because we read about him boasting to his wives about this killing. He’s proud of the sins he has done.

We see so much of this in the world around us, as people follow the path of sin. Many people don’t marry any more. Men marry men. Women marry women. Babies are killed in their mothers’ wombs by abortion. And people are happy and proud of their sins.

But then we also see the path of the children of the Lord. God gave Adam and Eve another child called Seth. And Seth also received children. These children were from the line of faith. These people lived differently. Oh yes, they also sinned, but they were sorry for their sins. They certainly didn’t boast about their sins. These men called on the name of the Lord! They saw their own failures and prayed to the Lord. So too we must live on this path, the path of the Lord, and turn to Jesus Christ as our only hope and salvation.

Reflection with your child:

Which path will you follow — the path of Satan, or the path of the Lord?

Source: Sermon by Rev. H. Alkema