I don't know if this happens to you, but I often find myself suddenly enamored with a particular verse or chapter in the Bible, even though I have read it before. My advice is, when that happens, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you what He wants you to know. Empty yourself of unnecessary baggage and go with the flow. Pray for a few minutes and read the passage again... You will have a better understanding of what God wanted His people to gain from that particular Scripture.

Alright then... Back to my story, I met a gentleman whose name was one I had never heard before (and I bet more than half of you haven't too). When he told me he was called Enos, I just knew I had to find out the origin and meaning of the name. This search led me to the Bible, straight to Genesis where I found Enos as a direct descendant of Adam. Then my wandering eye caught the Scripture of Cain and Abel. Yes, we all know this story, but my eyes kept hovering over Genesis 4:7. In this verse, God was speaking directly to Abel (wait, what?! yes, directly to the naughty brother!) about his (mis)behaviour;

“If thou doest well, shall 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. ”

— Genesis 4:7

Not all of us can readily interpret the King James Version of the Bible, so I have expounded on the verse based on other versions of the Bible so we can better comprehend the amazing Scripture.

“If you do well/good/right, will you not be accepted/will your countenance not be lifted/will you not receive?
If you don’t do well, sin lies/crouches/waits at the door.
It desires/lusts/yearns to have dominion/control you but you must subdue/master/rule/have dominion over it.”

— Genesis 4:7

For today, I just want to deal with the first part of the verse,

IF YOU DO WELL or GOOD or RIGHT, WILL YOU NOT BE ACCEPTED or RECEIVED or YOUR COUNTENANCE LIFTED?

Lets just have that sink in for a moment... Here is God, the Creator of everything and everyone in the world, telling this guy who has just brought something mediocre to him, that;

"Listen buddy, you messed up, you made a mistake, did not make the right decision, but, I AM here, I have not changed, I still love you, just make things right, do good, try again...."

Imagine giving your child or someone you care about a million dollars because they are going away somewhere, only for them to come back with a gift you are allergic to. That is exactly what Cain did. Instead of a meat offering, he lazily brought plants and grains which was not acceptable to God. Where in the Bible has there ever been an offering of grains and plants to God? Cain was definitely a stubborn one! But God being Who He is, gave Cain another chance and just cautioned Cain in the most loving way possible. A few things I learned from this verse:

God is a good God (You will see me write this a lot...well, its a fact).
God loves everyone, every single person, thing, being, cat, dog, fish.... God loves and He loves unconditionally.
God does not choose whom He will speak to in terms of preference. He speaks to and would like to speak to everyone; from the Pastor in the pulpit to the homeless man on the street to the stripper in the club. He is accessible to everyone through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit (we will talk more about this later, I don't want to derail from this topic)
God always cautions us when we do wrong, sometimes even before we do it, usually through the Holy Spirit ( that calm voice within you)
Because of how God is (His goodness) and that unconditional love, we always have another chance with Him. He is always ready to accept us, take us in, forgive us and love us.
'Doing well/right/good' has some great benefits that should serve as enough motivation, that being; acceptance, reception (these two are not the same in Biblical terms, you English gurus and yes we can discuss it later, if you'd like :) ) and the lifting up of your countenance.
When you 'do well', you are accepted or included, you are received or recognized and finally, you gain confidence through Christ. It is therefore for our own well being, that we do the right thing, at all times.
The variation of biblical texts help us to understand that in doing the right thing means doing good. The Hebrew word for that text is 'Yatab' which literally means "to make well". It was used in this context to mean "please". God simply wanted Cain to please Him through his offering.
Our society makes us believe that doing good or pleasing someone is not the same as doing right and that is often correct. This is why our societal barometer of morality cannot be used to measure what God meant in that passage. In essence, Doing Good/Well/Right simply means PLEASING GOD.
If you want to know if you are doing good or doing the right thing just take a second and check if it would please God. God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us know at all times if we are pleasing Him. Sometimes the issue might not be clear as night and day and you might not be too akin to the leading of the Holy Spirit and thats perfectly alright. But there is nothing a little prayer cannot solve. Just pray through it and you will definitely have an answer. We are all on this journey and growing whilst we are at it. Be blessed

“PRAYER: Dearest Father, I thank You for Your love. That You still love me no matter what, blows my mind. You are indeed a good and gracious Father. I am sorry for ever hurting You. I want to do well Daddy. I want to make You happy and please You alone. Please show me and teach me what pleases You. I desire to please You, my Father. Help me. In Your Son’s Holy Name, I pray, Amen. ”