Genesis 4:7 a. If you do well, will you not be accepted?

“If” occurs 1,678 times in 1,507 verses in the ESV. (source BLB.ORG)

Returning once again to the first use of a word in our bible we may learn something about the conditions surrounding the use of the word.

“If” presupposes an alternative condition based on choice and result. It is an unknown that seeks some assurance.

For example, “if” I had known what would happen to me in Vietnam, I might have made different choices. A change in career paths does not guarantee the results.  Success or failure, pleasure or pain, a long life or a short one, advice given can be helpful, if taken.

The goal in this first use is acceptance. Our problem with never knowing “if” is just who defines what is acceptable and what is not.  Do the results define our opinion of our choices?

That is an existential question, is it not?

Life presents us with many choices. Some are limited, some are limitless. What defines our path of least resistance does not always get us to where we want to be. The path less traveled holds no clues to where it will lead. Being clueless is a bad thing.

Teach your children well.

Some children are taught to hate. Some are taught life is nothing but a series of abuses. Some are not taught at all and left to a cruel and ruthless world to teach them what is hot and not to touch, but we get burned that way.

“If” we leave our children in the hands of the “clueless” they will surely lose their way.

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

Note closely that there is no ”if” in that statement of fact.

“If” you want to be someone’s companion, wouldn’t it be a wise “choice” to be with He who has the oil of gladness?