In our last meditation, we touched on one reason why people lie; that is, the desire to
gain an advantage. There are other reasons why people choose to lie. The example of
Cain is a clear one. He killed his brother when he found out that God preferred Abel’s
offering to his. By the way, there must be a blessing from offering otherwise having his
offering rejected could not have provoked such fierce jealousy and anger. When God
asked him of his brother, he lied! ‘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, NKJV).
“The problem is once you lie, you may have to keep telling other lies to keep you from being discovered.”
Cain lied to cover his track and failed to accept responsibility. A lie is a medicine many
people apply to treat wrongdoing; but it is a very poor medicine indeed. It is the kind of
medicine that is worse than the disease they hope to cure. The problem is once you lie,
you may have to keep telling other lies to keep you from being discovered. By its very
nature, every lie has a contradiction within it; and before long, it will expose itself. It is
not in vain that the Scripture says, “…be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers
32:23,KJV). By the way, in trying to absolve himself of blame, Cain wondered if he was
his brother’s keeper. This is exactly how God wants things to be – to protect each
other’s back. Becoming our brothers’ keeper is fulfilling the injunction of our text to love
one another.