Last week we saw how Joseph was
sold to Ishmaelite traders by his brothers. Instead of killing him
as they had originally planned, they sold him and they lived with
this regret and condemnation of what they had done for more than
two decades. In the end as they realized, their revenge on their
brother was not worth the heartache and pain they had to live with
for such a long time.
Reuben wasn't with his brothers
when they sold him to the Ishmaelites. Where he was we don't know,
but when he returned he wanted to rescue Joseph from the pit, but
then he saw that he was gone. He went to his brothers and heard
what they had done. And instead of standing up against them and
trying to make a plan to rescue Joseph, he instead devised a plan
with his brothers to pretend that his brother had been killed. Not
one of them wanted to accept responsibility and come out with the
truth:
"So they took Joseph's tunic,
killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. Then
they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their
father and said: "We have found this. Do you know whether it is
your son's tunic or not?" Genesis 37:31, 32
They lied to their father. And
notice how they even spoke of Joseph as Jacob's son instead of
their brother? They were really getting themselves deeper and
deeper into their own web of lies. Even pretending that they
weren't sure that it was Joseph's even though they full well knew
it was.
Jacob then broke down and wept for
his son bitterly. He tore his clothes and put sackcloth on and
mourned for many days, even saying that he will go down into the
grave from mourning. It was such a sad occasion. His sons even
tried to comfort him, but nothing helped. I personally think they
were genuinely trying to comfort him as they felt bad, but they
were in too deep and couldn't tell him the truth here.
Sometimes we do things that hurt
others as well and we need to accept responsibility and try and
make amends where possible. For once we get entangled into a web of
lies; it is very difficult to get out of it. The brothers only told
the truth to their father twenty years later and only because they
found Joseph alive and well. They never would have told him if they
didn't find Joseph. And those lies strangled them and influenced
their lives for the negative. At the end of the day, if we don't
come clean and make amends and ask for forgiveness, the only
persons we are hurting is ourselves. We need to break free from a
web of lies and walk in the truth.
Jesus said He is the way, the truth
and the life, and when He lives within us, His truth will shine
through. But if we are entangled in lies, we will battle to breathe
and be the Christian that God created us to be. We need to break
free and be filled with His truth and life, therein lies real joy
and peace.
Walk on His pathway for your life;
you will be glad you did. Break free from the past, from wrongdoing
and see Him in everything. He has already forgiven you all your
sin. Lay it at His feet and keep it there. Then walk in the
fullness of all He has planned for you. He has a future and a hope
for you. Cling to that and break free from past hurt. His hope for
a better future will carry you through.
Father thank you that You have a
future and a hope for us. We look forward to walking on this
journey with You. Please help us to break free from our past
mistakes, to correct it where we can and help us to walk in Your
pathway for our lives. We really want to please You and thank you
for loving us no matter what. Amen