Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

It’s one of the most infamous comebacks of all time. Cain, son of Adam
and Eve, has
 just killed his brother, Abel, out of jealousy and anger for
God approving and accepting
 Abel’s sacrifices and not Cain’s.
“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

Why does Cain ask, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Is Cain’s response as
callous and
 sarcastic as it appears? And does God expect and require
us to be our brother’s keeper?
God did indeed expect Cain to be responsible for his brother, as God
also expects us
 all to be looking out for each other. At creation, God
commanded Adam and Eve to
 care for the earth and everything upon
it. Since then, He has consistently repeated this
 command. Love
others. Care for others. Provide for others. Serve others.
How far should we go in fulfilling this command? For that answer we
look to our Savior Jesus and his heart, mind, and purpose as Paul
spoke of: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for
the ungodly. For one will
 scarcely die for a righteous person—though
perhaps for a good person one would
 dare even to die— but God
shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,
 Christ died for
us. “(Romans 5:6-8)
Jesus taught of this principle in the parable of the sheep and goats:
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of
mine, you did for me” (Matthew
 25:40).
And, in turn, “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you
did not do for
 me” (v. 45).
The command to be our brother’s keeper —our neighbor’s keeper—
remains to this day. We are to look out for each other, to “love your
neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31,Leviticus 19:18).
It’s as true today as it was at creation, as true for us as it was for Cain.
Sometimes, we want nothing more in life than to look out for ourselves
and our own interests. We can grow selfish, angry or greedy by thinking
more of ourselves than we
 should. We need to realize that all we have—
our time, our possessions, our life
 itself—are a gift from God. What we
do for others reaches far and wide and has an impact beyond
ourselves. Let us commit ourselves to the needs and interests of others
and above all to the saving of their souls found in the Gospel message
of
 Jesus.
 – Steve Ledford