JUST DO WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO!

William Andrew Dillard

From the earliest days of history comes a powerful point for everyone throughout the ages. It is a point when well taken and observed, that will bring goodness, joy, and appreciation of blessings without end. So, just what is this powerful point? It is: JUST DO WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO! Think about it!
The story emanates from the lives of two brothers, Cain and Abel, who brought offerings of worship to the Lord. The story is well known. God rejected Cain’s offering, but accepted that of Abel. Cain was exceedingly angry over the rejection, but received the benefit of godly instructions which would rectify his life, and included ample warning of any alternative. God forthrightly told him: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Students have often asked what this means, especially the last part of it.
Sin in the form of anger and resistance to well doing had enveloped Cain as a dirty shirt, or more to the point of the verse, sprung upon him as a roaring lion. It lay at Cain’s door, and it lies at everyone’s door. It does so because it desires to have each person as its prey. Do not be deceived, sin really wants control of your life. Cain, and everyone else, too, will rule over sin, and keep it at bay, though it burn with desire for us, as long as commitment is made to God’s grace in well doing. Just do what you ought to do! To objectify the subjectivity of this statement, the Bible truth for all men is offered.
Solomon put it this way as he concluded the book of Ecclesiastes at 12:13.“ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” That statement is true and applicable across the ages. The apostle Paul wrote about God to Timothy: “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” I Timothy 2:4.
Making a long and wonderful story short, it is the will of God that all men should be saved, and then go on to serious discipleship through baptism, church fellowship, and spiritual maturity in the university of Christ Jesus using His textbook: the Holy Word. Thus will the awful sins of hurt, heartache, and loss be avoided while the joy of faith, hope, and goodness shield against the desires of the springing lion at the doorstep. How awful are the cries of those who have, through foolish and selfish decisions, become the victims of that crouching lion at the door. But greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world. In well doing one may resist the devil to the point that he will flee, according to James 5:8. What all this translates to in simple terms is: Just do what you ought to do!