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Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Paul said, “The one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal 6:8). Choices have consequences, and my decisions chart the course of my life. I praise you for being a God who honors my actions. It encourages me to keep on doing good, “for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Gal 6:9). Today in Your Word Today you told me how Judah reaped what he had sown and about Joseph’s first encounter with his brothers. Judah had sold Joseph into slavery, believing that Joseph would not survive (see Gen 42:13). His “murder” of Jacob’s son was brought back on his own head when you killed his sons, Er and Onan. Judah also found out what it felt like to be deceived. His daughter-in-law, Tamar, tricked him into fathering her children. This teaches me that I will reap what I sow. Judah sowed murder and deception, and he reaped death and humiliation. The seven years of plenty came to an end, just as you said, and Jacob sent his sons (sans Benjamin) down to Egypt to buy grain. Although they didn’t know Joseph, he recognized them, and he was consumed by a desire to know if they were still the lying, scheming, murderous men that had callously sold him into slavery. He threw them into prison (only three days compared to his three years) and then released them on the condition that Simeon stayed behind as a pledge that they would return with Benjamin. Would they care enough about Simeon to come back and rescue him? Were they telling the truth about Benjamin or had they killed him too? Would they keep silent about the money Joseph put back in their sacks? Joseph had set the perfect test to see if his brothers had changed after more than twenty years. This teaches me that adversity is the true test of character, for it always reveals the truth of what lies in my heart. Reflection Reuben was quick to say, “I told you so,” but his words were hollow. He was there when they dipped Joseph’s robe in the goat’s blood, and he went along with the deception. As Jacob perceived, he was as “unstable as water” (Gen 49:4). Request Father, Joseph could have killed his brothers the moment he realized who they were. Instead, he tested them to see what they had become. Help me to have the same reaction when people who have wronged me are put in my power. May I always return good for evil. Thanksgiving Thank you for reminding me that no one ever gets away with doing wrong. The consequences always follow, and if justice does not find them in this life, it certainly will in the life to come. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Suggested Hymn: “We Will Reap What We Sow” by Lottie Porter. Meditation Verse: Genesis 42:28. |