Not All Who Wander Are Lost (but sometimes they are).

Scripture:         You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Genesis 4:12

Observation:    Cain’s rash act of murder results in a lifetime curse.  Not only will the ground he had tilled so well now turn against him, but he is to be banished.  His parents’ sin resulted in banishment from a place (the garden) and God’s presence.  Cain has taken life and his punishment is permanent alienation from his family and his God.  He has been kicked out of the family. 

At first, his punishment seems light.  Murder results in wandering?  But the more I understand this, the more gruesome it becomes.  Cain is not just going to be a wanderer; he will wander without God.  

There is a bumper sticker in Colorado Springs that says, “All who wander are not lost.”  That may be, but for Cain, he was doomed to wander AND be lost, separated from God.  Was there room for repentance?  Reconciliation?  Sadly, it does not seem so.  Cain’s curse was not the mark.  It was the prospect of life WITHOUT God. 

  

Application:    This year, our church is studying the parables of Jesus, to learn what journeying with God versus without God looks like.  Like Cain, there are thousands of people in our city who are wandering without God.  Unlike Cain, they still have a chance to come to Christ and go with God.  This year, I want to get serious about praying for those I know without God.  This text has reminded me of the terrible curse of living without God.  I want to begin praying for three houses I know on my street where there are people living without God.

Prayer: God, I ask you to give me a heart of prayer for those I know who are wandering without you.  Will you bring them to faith this year?  Will you give me opportunities to love them to you, and share with them the journey home?