Grains of Sand

Google Images I wonder what was going through Joseph’s mind when his brothers arrived in Egypt for their second visit? This time they had brought their younger brother, Benjamin, with them as per Joseph’s instructions (Genesis 42:18-20). He could see their fear (43:18). They were about to expose their father’s favourite son to immense danger. They had brought back the silver that they had discovered in their grain sacks—silver that was supposed to have been left behind in Egypt to pay for that grain. They were invited to the Prime Minister’s residence (43:16-20), an invitation they thought was as friendly as being taken into a dark alley by a bunch of thugs. The brothers were scared. But what was Joseph thinking as he sensed their fear and then, as predicted in the dream he had shared with them as a youth, these frightened nomads bowed low before him (43:28)? Did he feel a moment of triumph, an “I-told-you-so?” The clue might be found in Genesis 43:26, 27: “ When Joseph came home, ...

Google Images Jesus told the parable of a servant who owed his master a huge amount of money (Matthew 18:23-35). He was about to lose everything, including his freedom, when his master graciously forgave the debt. " But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded " (Matthew 18:28). Did he just not make the connection in his mind, or was he simply too humiliated because he’d had to beg for his freedom, that the servant went out and threw another man into jail because he couldn’t pay a much smaller debt? Did it make him feel bigger to abuse someone after his master had made him feel smaller by being generous? We all know people (and perhaps ARE those people) who act as though everyone else is stupid and they’re smart, or everyone else is wrong and they’re right. We all know people who seem to delight in pointing out the “weaknesses”...

Reading: Obadiah He blamed his brother for his own poor choices and they rarely spoke again. He refused to help his brother in a time of need. He stood by, not lifting a hand to rescue a brother from the neighbourhood bullies. Now it was his turn. It only takes 21 verses for Obadiah to describe what God is about to do to Edom for her attitudes and actions against Israel. The history goes back a long way—all the way to Esau and Jacob , for it was from these brothers that the nations of Edom and Israel were formed. Edom now stands condemned. The classic words of these verses are these: “ As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head ” (Obadiah 15, NIV). This is the judgment. A similar statement in the New Testament is delivered as a command: “ So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets ” (Matthew 7:12, NIV). If we put the two together the truth is pretty obvious: Do for others...