Thursday, January 19, 2017

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.