“Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’
‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’”
Genesis 4:9
Anyone who has had a younger brother or sister has probably used this line on their parents to shirk responsibility. I know I have. In the context I used it, the point I was making was that I was not responsible for him. Maybe my brother had done something wrong or something I didn’t want to be associated with. That was known to happen from time to time, but don’t tell him that I said so. He’d be jealous because I was so well-behaved (wink, wink).
At face value, there is a measure of truth to the question in this verse. As a child, we are “kept” by our parents. Older children are often responsible for younger siblings. As adults, we keep ourselves until such an age when we need assistance. And God the Father is our ultimate Keeper now and forever if we are one of His children.
In this particular passage in Genesis, God was asking Cain where Abel was, knowing full well he had been murdered. The question is this: why would anyone – including myself – want to use the same excuse with God as a man who was jealous of his brother and murdered him? Maybe this verse is not a good choice to use as a modern-day excuse!
Good verses to aspire to:
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John 15:12-13
