“Am I my Brother’s Keeper”

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9

Cain, the firstborn of Adam and Eve, and Abel, their second child, prepared a sacrifice to God. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground while Abel brought his firstborn of his flock. God respected Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s. Why? Abel simply gave his best… Cain became jealous and angry whereas God instructed him to do the right thing and not allow sin to take over and make him do something he would regret. Cain eventually killed Abel due to jealously. God approached Cain and asked where his brother was. Cain basically replied that he did not know and why should he, “Am I My Brother’s Keeper”?

Let me say emphatically that scripture does teach that we are our brothers keeper. Here are two examples.

Faith. Paul in 1 Corinthians 8:9, speaks about our liberty that we have in Christ. He was mainly directing this liberty about foods that are eaten or not eaten. But this liberty is applied to all of life. We should never cause someone to stumble in their faith. Whether by the food we eat, the language we use, the lifestyles we live, the sacrifices we offer, where we work and the list goes on.

Family. We are all brother’s keepers for the family. Family is where the foundation of brother’s keeper comes from. Families are to be so involved with the daily lives of each other that we can and should be a keeper to each other. Dad’s and Mom’s will certainly be asked the question; Where is your son or daughter? (Where are they Spiritually – Have you taught them Jesus) God has made each of us a keeper to each other. Matthew 18:15 tells us to go to the sinning brother or sister and help them, tell them their fault. This is not judging them but LOVING them. You are your brother’s keeper.