Genesis, Chapter 42, Verse 35
When they were emptying their
sacks, there in each one’s sack was his moneybag! At the sight of their
moneybags, they and their father were afraid.
Why was Jacob (Israel)
and Joseph’s brothers afraid? As I
pondered this thought it occurred to me that they were afraid because they had
no compassion in them. Yes, even Jacob; for was it not Jacob who cheated his
brother out of his birthright and stole Esau’s dying blessing from his own
father Isaac. These men were hard. Yet, God still loved them and blessed them.
Finding the money sacks still in with the grain meant to them that now they
would have to pay for the grain with their lives-for nothing is free! This act
of compassion from Joseph unsettled them. It upset their world; it toppled
their assumptions of the world and they would never be the same. They were by
this simple gesture being asked to radically change. To think in a new way:
that is to realize that the dignity and loyalty that men seek; is not a
birthright given to the firstborn or something to be gained taken by being the
most powerful of men. That dignity and loyalty are the birthright of all
persons; however, they can be lost by unbridled selfishness. Wisdom teaches us
that in order to retain our dignity and the loyalty of others we must be persons of character and that we
must lose our absorption with
ourselves to contemplate and develop a sincere love for others.
Pray that our sacks won't be empty any more and that our new government helps people and supports the tenants of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in that order only.
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